Some Guy
by Brandy BJ
Summary: When Angel is kidnapped by a mysterious stranger, Buffy and the gang must rush to find him before it's too late to save his soul.


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"Some-Guy"By Brandy

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Disclaimer: Although I may wish hard and long- The whole Buffy concept and the characters in this are not mine (Except Tobie, he's mine! All mine!). They belong to Joss Whedon 

Feedback: Yes! I live for it! I need it to survive! Please give it! Send to: Brandy_JK@AOL.com

Distribution: "Want, take, have." But consider this: maybe if Faith had asked first she wouldn't have ended up in jail cell, awaiting trial.... Ask me first and tell where you wanna put it.

Rating: PG.- nothing bad, mild cursing in a few spots.

Setting: LA, a year or 2 after "Parting Gifts"

Note: What's between the stars** is what the character is thinking ~~~ wavy lines across the page indicate a change in the POV , a time difference or a change in setting.

The sun had set 3 or 4 hours ago. It was cool and dark in Angel's subterranean apartment. He sat alone on the couch in deep thought.

Thinking about a lot of things. His childhood (memories of which rarely came back to him anymore), his parents, things he'd done as Angelus, certain points in history that he had witnessed that no living human had, but mostly, he thought of Buffy. Always his thoughts would turn to Buffy. How much he had loved her and still loved her, how he had seemed almost alive when he was with her. 

That was how it started, but inevitably his thoughts would change and turn malicious, as he himself once had. They'd shift from happy times to those nights when the only way he could see her was looking up at her bedroom window at night, feeling torn. Torn between being unable to spend his time anywhere but as close to her as he was allowed and wanting to disappear into the darkness. Of how much it hurt to be apart and yet how much easier it was for both of them. 

No, he wouldn't think of that, promised himself he wouldn't think of that. He'd broken that promise more than a few times. He and Buffy couldn't be together, that was it. That was why he was here- trying to rectify what he had done, to make amends. Well at least he was trying to do that when he wasn't thinking about---

"Hey! Brooding boy!"

The voice snapped him out of his pensive thoughts and he looked up to see Cordelia standing on the steps, staring down at him impatiently.

"Have you gone deaf or something?" She was obviously annoyed. "I called you like, 10 times and you're still sitting down here, alone, in the dark.... Don't you do anything else?"

"Sorry"

There was a long pause during which she said nothing and only glared at him. She didn't look like she was going to explain anything very soon 

"So why were you calling me in the first place?" * Might as well get her to tell me what's going on since there's little chance that she'll leave me alone *

**"Oh, yeah, almost forgot**.** There's some guy here to see you."**

"Some guy?"

"Ya, I'm pretty sure that's what I said" The annoyance was back in her voice.

"Does this guy have a name?"

"I don't know! Why don't you go ask him yourself! _I_ have got better things to do than hang around and talk to some guy who enjoys brooding in the dark." **With that she turned and walked back up the stairs.**

Angel waited a few moments and then followed. When he reached the top of the staircase **he heard a door slam.**

He continued towards his office and looked in before opening the door. Someone was standing there dressed entirely in black, like Angel himself tended to do. * This must be 'Some-guy' *

'Some-guy' turned around and looked Angel over as if to say, "This is the great detective?"

Instead his only verbal comment was: "Are you Angel?"

"Yes," Angel replied simply. 'Some-guy' didn't look too tough. He was of average height and build with short, dark brown hair and an accent Angel couldn't quite place.

"Do you need help?" Angel asked since 'some-guy' didn't say anything else. * Why is everyone being so non-verbal today? *

"No, I came to talk to you about the Slayer"

Once Angel registered this comment his mind filled with a million fears and possibilities. * Is she hurt? Dead? Does she need my help? Did she move on with her life that quickly? *

"Why? What's wrong with her?" Angel said this as calmly as he could manage, but the growing concern in his voice must have been evident because the stranger seemed to pick up his worry.

"Calm yourself, she's fine. Oddly, you seem worried about her welfare. It isn't very often that a vampire has concerns over a Slayer. It almost sounds as though you love her."

"I _do_ love her"

This mysterious guy was confusing Angel. He was used to being the cryptic, mysterious guy. * Why is he talking about Buffy if she isn't hurt or in trouble and he doesn't know that we are...no...were lovers? *

'Some-guy' laughed. "You mean you actually love a slayer? This isn't one of those instances when a vampire becomes infatuated with a human?"

Angel was unable to reply. He didn't know what to say. So he just stared at the man standing in front of him. He wasn't even really a man. Only about 20 years old, a boy still. As opposed to Angel's 250 years.

"Well then... I guess you might be interested in knowing that she'll be coming here"

"What!?" Angel was shocked. * After our previous encounter, or more accurately, what she remembers of our previous encounter, there is little chance she would come back. Unless some horrible end-of-the-world thing was going to happen. *

"Why?" he added to his previous question.

"Because of a demon that you can't defeat. Well, not without her help."

"And how, exactly, do you know all of this?" * This conversation is getting stranger by the minute. Who is this guy? What does he want? *

"I can speak for the powers that be, God, the fates, whoever or whatever you believe controls destiny."

"Why are you telling me this if I will just find out for myself in a couple of--"

Angel didn't get to finish his sentence. Shards of wood, from what had been a door went flying, scattering across the clean floor. From the now-doorless doorway strode some kind of demon Angel wasn't familiar with.

"This the demon you were talking about" Angel deadpanned to the stranger who seemed calm.

The demon rushed at them. Angel ducked it's first punch and swung a nearby chair into it's head. He watched triumphantly as it went down. * What's with the warning? That was easy! * He took a dagger out of his desk and moved in for the kill. He raised the knife and was about to give the demon a hopefully fatal wound when it got up and slammed him into the wall hard enough to crack the paneling. Angel felt his head connect with a hard metal object. His vision started to blur and then everything turned to blackness.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I thought that would be quite a bit tougher," Tobie said.

He looked at the demon which still had Angel roughly pinned to the wall.

"Let him go" 

The demon stepped back, releasing his grip and Angel fell limply to the floor and lay there unmoving.

Tobie walked over quickly, knowing the vampire would awaken soon. He pulled a small vial of slightly tinted liquid out of his pocket. He set it on the ground and searched his other coat pocket for the syringe. Upon finding it, he filled it with the liquid and injected it into Angel's neck.

"In fact, it verged on easy."

He surveyed the damage. * Doesn't exactly look like he just 'up and left' as was intended. Well, at least he's bagged. We'd better get out of here before that brunette comes back and alerts his friends. That is, if he has any... *

"Pick him up and followed me," he ordered the demon, who silently obeyed.

"AND ANOTHER THING!!"

Cordy came out of the back room and shut up after seeing what was going on.

Tobie disregarded her and started leaving, his cohort following.

"Hey where do you think your going with him?" Cordy asked finally getting together a sentence.

"We're leaving" Tobie said over his shoulder

"Oh no you're not!"

He couldn't help but admire the girl's courage. * She must know that she can't back up that statement. There's no point in bothering with her, it would only cause more complications. * He smiled coldly at her and started leaving again.

The demon growled fiercely and followed him out into the streets, taking the unconscious Angel with him.

"Or maybe you _are_ leaving." Cordy waited until they had left the building to rush to the phone. She picked up the receiver and dialed the number of the only person who she thought could help.

~ring~

* Come on!! Pick up! *

~ring~

* has to be home, has to be home *

~ring~

* please be there!! *

~ring~

"Please leave message after tone"

-BEEP-

* Oh ya! Wesley is out of town for a few days! *

She hung up the phone and dialed a different number.

"Hi! Ms. Summers? Could you give me Buffy's new number?"

Could You Vague That up?--- Part 2

The golden sign was small and discreet. "Angel Investigations" it read. As Buffy entered the doorway beneath it she could hear the end of Cordelia's conversation with Giles.

"And what did this demon look like?"

"Um....I don't know. Ugly and demonic?"

"Well could you describe it's characteristics for me then?"

"Oh. Uh...It was kinda greenish and it had horns."

Giles took off his glasses and ran a hand down his face in an attempt to not get aggravated.

Buffy walked over and sat down on the desk in Angel's office, briefly wondering what had happened to the chair.

"Tell me what happened"

Cordelia sighed and recapped the events of the previous evening.

"I went downstairs to tell Angel that this guy was here to see him and---"

"Could you describe him for me?" Buffy interrupted, curious as to who would do this. * Dumb question, anyone evil would be interested in vamp-napping Angel. *

"Thanks for interrupting my story." Cordy noticed Buffy's serious look and decided to describe the guy who had taken Angel.

"Well he was kinda like Xander. Same height, hair color and lack of fashion sense."

Xander, who had remained unusually silent until now, spoke up. "Hey! I don't go around comparing _you_ to guys who kidnap vampires!"

"Well I don't dress like them."

"Maybe, but you do have one thing in common with them and that's--"

"Enough."

Cordy and Xander stopped their argument and turned to look at Buffy.

"Arguing isn't going to help us find Angel. Now, Cordy, Finish your story. I want to know what happened to him."

"Okay. Like I said, I went downstairs and told Angel this guy was here to see him. Then I walked back up the stairs and went quietly into the other room so they could talk. Then I hear a crash and figured Angel tripped over the chair in the hallway, _again_. So, later, I came out to discuss something with him and he's all unconscious and there's a demon and that guywho was mean to me_. _They took him somewhere."

Buffy tried to connect the events to any demons or vampires she knew of, but failed. She looked over at Giles who just shrugged.

"Was this man a vampire?"

"How should I know? He wasn't all vampy."

Buffy stood up. "I'll call Will, find out if she can get here sooner to help us out. Cordy, I want you and Giles to look through some of Angel's books, see if you can find the demon that took him."

"What can I do Buff?"

"Xander, you can go to the doughnut shop three blocks north and get some doughnuts. I feel a research party coming on."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In the dark basement of an old abandoned apartment building, Angel awoke. His thoughts were jumbled together and he found it hard to concentrate on anything. He had a weird feeling deep inside his soul, it was confusion. Everything inside him seemed to be pulling in different directions. There was only one way to turn....

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tobie watched their captive who was locked in a cage in the corner of the room. Angel was beginning to wake up. 

For a moment he lay on the floor, looking as though he were still out cold. Then he struggled to his feet and steadied himself with the bars of the cage. When he had regained his sense of balance he stepped back and surveyed his surroundings. Tobie began to wonder if the spell had worked. Without warning Angel lunged against the front wall of the cage, snarling menacingly.

A voice called out behind Tobie.

"I knew he'd be vicious."

Tobie turned around. He had known he would see her, dressed in black with brown hair, much like him. He knew she had been standing just a few feet away for some time now. Somehow she still managed to startle him.

"Dondy, hi. I thought so too, but I was hoping he wouldn't stop at this stage. It's very irritating you know." 

"Yeah, and James got stuck in it for three months. To have to go through all of the trouble, only to have him killed by the slayer was very aggravating. Are you sure Angel's worth the effort?"

"Yes, when you talk with him, look into his eyes, you can see it. What he was like and should still be like. He has a lot of power."

"Why couldn't we use the easier way, rather than the spell?"

"It might not have worked. Did you realize he's in love with the slayer?"

"A vampire? And the Slayer? Together? Now there's a thought that's scarier than most demons I've seen, which is a lot."

Dondy walked over and leaned against the wall, next to him. She laid her head down on his shoulder and watched the vampire in the cage on the far side of the room. They stood in silence for a while, the only noise coming from Angel, who apparently was in a not-so-good mood. She finally broke the peace.

"How long do you think it'll take him to snap out of this?"

"Not long. I believe we're going to have to feed him soon. As we've found with James, they only get more ill-natured as their hunger increases."

Dondy stood and took his hand. "Then lets go now so he doesn't get louder. Someone might hear him."

Tobie nodded in agreement. "If he gets worse we should be able to tranquilize him again and if things go wrong we may be forced to stake him. It would be a shame to do so. He could really aid our cause once the spell is complete"

"M-Hmmm. I don't think we should leave him alone though. He could get out if he tried hard enough."

"Don't worry, we'll return soon." She didn't look convinced. He gestured towards cage. "Look. That cage is solid steel, it's not going anywhere."

Dondy sighed and nodded in reluctant agreement. They left, not noticing that the bolts holding the cage to the wall became looser every time Angel strained against the barrier. He growled, putting all of his weight toward the cage wall. He was neither a soulless demon nor an ensouled vampire. He was acting upon his basic instincts, and they were telling him to get out and ease his hunger...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They were getting nowhere quickly. Cordy was more a hindrance than a help of any sort and none of them had gotten any sleep since she'd called. 

Buffy continued pacing across Angel's living room restlessly. She had to admit the place was nice, and surprisingly immaculate. * It's a shame I never got the official tour last time I was here. Why does Angel always get a really cool place? Maybe this one isn't as big as the mansion, but what it lacks in size it makes up for by having an elevator! * She gave up on her pathetic attempt to preoccupy herself and stopped pacing.

"I can't stand this anymore!"

Startled from their work, everyone turned around to look at her.

"I'm standing here, not helping in any way. I'm gonna go look for him."

No one objected to this so she went upstairs, getting something of a lift from using the elevator and walked out into the night.

She still remembered her way around and so headed straight for a place she knew had a lot of abandoned buildings. That would be the best place to start looking. They had to be keeping Angel somewhere.

Buffy rounded the corner of another silent, lifeless block and was about to walk up the next street when she thought she heard footsteps. She turned and headed in the direction they were coming from, preparing herself for anything.

...Except for what walked out of the shadows. She caught her breath. She would recognize that figure anywhere. Even on a darker night than tonight.

"Angel!" She hurried towards him and was about to throw her arms around him, when he growled and attacked her. His face becoming feral, with yellow eyes and glistening fangs.

She dodged his first swing, mainly out of reflex. She took a fighting stance, readying herself for another attack. He grabbed Buffy's shoulder, intending to pull her around and bite her neck.

Buffy took his arm and spun, throwing him into the side of a condemned office building. 

He was momentarily stunned, not expecting his quarry to be much trouble. This lasted only a moment for he quickly regained his balance and began to slowly circle her, waiting for an opening.

Buffy let him get behind her, turned suddenly and punched him in the face. She went to finish the maneuver with a kick to his chest, but he caught her foot and pushed her back. Angel decided it was not worth the effort for one meal and gave up. Buffy started to stand again. Before she could move to attack or defend, he shoved her down the flight of steps leading into the basement of the office building. This course of action gave him enough time to make an escape. Why bother wasting the energy? There were plenty of _helpless_ humans around. The place was infested with them.

Buffy ran up the stairs to pursue him. Only to find that he had disappeared into the darkness. It had all happened so fast, but like most vampires, Angel was adept at disappearing when he wanted to. She searched for a while and when nothing turned up, she reluctantly went to tell Giles what had happened. The series of events had taken only 5 or 6 minutes to unfold.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dondy and Tobie had watched the fight from the shadows, staying carefully out of sight as the slayer had walked by. Angel had just left after pushing her down some stairs. They had followed him and weaved their way through the shadows to get ahead of him.

Dondy tensed. "He's coming, we have to catch him or we'll be in huge trouble."

"I realize that. Perhaps if we both assault him at the same time then possibly we cou---"

Dondy cut him off by pulling a gun out of her belt.

"When did you...?"

She laughed quietly. "You should never leave home without one."

"I can see just one problem with that. We only want to detain him, not put several holes in him and then watch the blood expand across the pavement."

Dondy responded by pulling three feathered darts from her pocket. "Really strong sedative," she explained, answering his unasked question.

Angel was close now. He was paying more attention to the corner than anything else. Wary of the possibility that the slayer might attack him. 

He should have been watching the shadowy ledge by the road.

Dondy loaded one of the darts into the gun and shot him in the side. He yelped in pain and surprise, quickly pulling it out. Tobie and Dondy jumped off the ledge and approached him gingerly. He was beginning to lose his balance, but he was still lethal.

They grabbed him and although he growled, he didn't resist, choosing instead to allow them lead him towards the building his cage was located in.

Tobie started to quicken his pace. "Let's get him as far as possible before he collapses." They proceeded to all but drag him back to the basement cage he had escaped from. 

Confusion---- Part 3

"...And then he threw me down a flight of stairs. Before I could get up, he just... vanished." Buffy finished telling her friends what had happened between her and Angel. She rubbed the bruise on her side.

Giles nodded and thought this through. Willow, who had arrived a few minutes ago, was tapping her pencil on the arm of the sofa.

"Giles, do you think a spell could have done this to him?"

"Well, I-I've never heard of this happening before. Angel is a rather rare case. There is no precedence to compare this to."

"Then, no spell?"

"I wasn't ruling that out. It's very possible. Would you check that stack of books to your right?"

"What are we looking for?"

"I'm not sure. Something that would make a vampire act animalistic. Especially one with a soul. We must bear in mind that this spell might be taking his soul." He left that last statement open for interpretation.

Giles walked over to a bookcase in another room and chose a few books to look through. He sat back down on the couch and looked for anything relevant to Angel's condition.

Xander came into the room. It was silent except for the turning of pages. "Have any of you seen Cordelia?"

Buffy looked up from a book. "She left a couple of minutes ago for an audition."

He groaned. "She made me get her a cappuchino from this shop 20 miles away and it wasn't even open yet. So I had to sit there for an hour until they opened and got the machines up and running."

This brought a giggle from both Buffy and Willow. 

"Poor you Xander." Willow said with as much sympathy as she could muster between snickers.

"So what's happening in this realm, which doesn't involve waiting outside a store like an idiot."

Buffy laughed again. "We're looking for a spell that was cast on Angel."

Xander pondered what to do with the cappuchino in his hand. * If I drink this Cordy will be mad at me. If it gets cold, Cordy will be mad at me. If I lie and say I couldn't get it, Cordy will be mad at me. Oh well! I'll drink it. I could always get her another. Hey, wait a minute... Someone did a spell on Angel? *

"Hey, wait a minute... Someone did a spell on Angel?"

"We think so. He was acting really weird. He didn't say anything when I saw him and he attacked me. It didn't make sense."

"Since when is silence weird for Angel? And as for attacking you, how do you know he isn't evil?"

"I don't think he was... He didn't seem to intent on the whole 'bloody murder' thing. He just kind of...left after I defended myself."

"He could still be evil. When he was Angelus he didn't kill you right off."

"But still--" Buffy started, desperately trying to defend Angel.

"I thought you were over him. You're with Riley, right? Why are you going to risk your life to find out whether or not Angel's evil?"

Buffy paused, realizing she had forgotten all about Riley. She quickly got back to the subject of Angel. "I care about him, that's why. I always will. It's important to me to know what happened to him." 

Xander was silent for a moment. "I'll help you look for him."

"Thanks Xander, but it's too dangerous for you to come. He could--"

"I know that nothing is going to stop you from looking for him again and I'm not letting you go by yourself."

"Okay," she sighed reluctantly. "but you have to promise me that you'll be careful and won't do anything stupid."

He agreed and Buffy laid out the plan.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Buffy and Xander had left to search for Angel as soon as the sun set. There was no sign of him.

"Let's just give up. You were right when you said he vanished because there's nowhere he could have gone."

"I know... But how about we check that apartment building? If there's nothing there, then we'll go home."

They walked into the building cautiously and Buffy gestured that they should check the upper floors first. Xander followed her up the creaky steps. Still, nothing.

Xander started to open his mouth to remind her that she said they could leave but she cut him off.

"I know, let's head back. We can look elsewhere tomorrow."

Xander nodded. Buffy lead the way towards the door, all hope of finding Angel had been lost and she felt she needed to keep searching.

* What if he's staying at the next building? He could be gone before tomorrow. I need to find him! I want to know what happened to him I want-- *

Xander's voice broke into her thoughts of Angel. "Hey. Do you hear that?"

Buffy listened carefully. At first all she could detect was the blaring music from a passing car. Then she heard what he had been talking about. It was a growling noise, coming from somewhere below them.

"What is that?"

"I don't know, Buff. You're the Slayer."

Buffy started combing the building for something that would lead downstairs. She didn't see stairs anywhere.

Out of curiosity, Xander opened a door of what he thought was a janitor's closet. He was surprised to find a staircase.

"Buffy, here's some stairs."

Buffy walked over to her 'Xander-shaped-friend', as she had once called him while under a vengeance spell, and whispered, "Okay, I'll go downstairs and you stay up here--"

"But Buff!"

"Xander, you stay up here and warn me if anyone comes. All right?"

He nodded unhappily and she started down the stairs. "Make sure you keep quiet." Buffy added in a low voice.

On the bottom floor there was little light and Buffy strained to see. It was taking longer than usual for her eyes to adjust. The growling had gotten noticeably louder. Something was down here. * Now, if I could only see so I could find out what it is.. *

Xander thought he saw something coming out of the shadows to the right of the stairs Buffy had just gone down. He wasn't sure whether or not it was real. It was too dark to be positive.

Some of the light from a street lamp in front of the building drifted down there. Something gleamed, catching that small amount of light. Fangs? No, too big... It had to be metal. The shadowy figure had something metal and was advancing on Buffy.

* I'm the lookout. I have to warn her! * "Buffy watch out"

Buffy turned, giving up her search for whatever was growling. She looked into the deep shadows, but could not see what she had been warned about.

She was looking ahead, but the thing had maneuvered around behind her. A hard blow to her head, and Buffy fell to the floor, landing in the light.

"Buffy!" Xander screamed.

The thing that had hurt Buffy apparently hadn't noticed Xander was there until he had shouted. It headed towards the stair case and Xander could see that it's form was human.

* Oh God! What am I supposed to do now!? Either I leave and this thing kills Buffy or it kills me and then Buffy. I have to do something to help her! I have to let the others know what happened. I gotta tell Giles! He'll know what to do, he's Super-Librarian. But what if the thing leaves? I guess I could run and hide until it goes away... *

With that decided, Xander ran out of there as fast as could. Seeing an open door, he ran in and hid as best he could.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Buffy's attacker started to go after the boy. A familiar voice addressed him before he could leave.

"Brendan! Where do you think you're going?" It was Dondy.

He came back down the stairs reluctantly. "I'm going after the kid, he might tell someone that we're here."

"We won't be here for much longer. Come on. We should have bailed earlier anyway. We only needed this place for the first stage."

They walked through the dimness of the basement, stepping over the unconscious Slayer. Presently, the growling ceased. Brendan gave the now animalistic Angel another dose of traquilizer, which was no small feat, then helped Dondy drag his unconsious form around the similarly unconsious Slayer, up the stairs and into the back of the van that was waiting around the corner and left.

When Xander heard a car start and leave he could barely stop himself from rushing to Buffy's side. He forced himself to be cautious, but Buffy was alone. As well as unresponsive.

He tried to awaken her. "Buffy, Buffy! Wake up, he could be back soon!"

Buffy remained still, lying unmoving on the cold ground. Xander cradled her head in his lap and tried to figure out what he was going to do now. He knew he shouldn't move her because it could make her injuries worse. So he sat there. Trying to decide whether or not it would be better to take her back to Angel's himself or go get the others.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dondy turned onto the highway. Making sure to drive a little below the speed limit as to not attract attention. She would hate to have to explain why there was a vampire in the back of their van.

* Hello officer! No, he isn't a vampire. You're just imagining it. It's just a coincidence that he has all the signs of being one! What!? Am I kidnapping him? How absurd! No, I'm not calling you stupid. Hey! I wouldn't go near him if I were you... Oops! Now you've gone and gotten yourself killed. Oh well! * She chuckled softly to herself and Brendan gave her a weird look. 

She shook her head. "You know... I was thinking. A Slayer could be helpful in dealing with Angel. Let's go back and bring her with us."

Dondy turned the van around and headed back to the apartment building where they had left the bothersome Slayer.

When they got there, they found that the boy had returned and was trying to revive his friend.

"Get out now and we won't kill you." Brendan threatened to the boy who looked fairly frightened. He held his ground, refusing to leave his friend's side.

"What are you going to do with her if I do?" was Xander's reply.

"We'll figure that out later, but don't say I didn't warn you. Leave now." Brendan's face started to change, becoming that of a vampire.

"We don't really want to kill him." Dondy said, putting a hand on Brendan's shoulder to restrain him. She directed her next comment to Xander. "That doesn't mean we won't. If you don't take this last chance..." She snapped the solid railing, abruptly and easily, to emphasize her unspoken threat.

Xander swallowed nervously, he got the point. He wasn't that stupid. Hesitantly, he left Buffy. Giles had to know what happened. Buffy's life, as well as his own, hung in the balance.

Brendan picked up Buffy with no obvious effort and suggested that they put her in the back with Angel.

They departed and drove to a large building a couple of miles away. It was far enough from the busy part of town to be undisturbed by people accidentally coming in, saying they thought it was their lawyer's office. 

But this place was even less inviting than a trip to your lawyer. The interior was dim, but illuminated adequately enough to give it a surreal glow. This provided sufficient light for the average human to see what they were doing.

Of course, some of the people wandering around didn't need any light whatsoever. They preferred to use the darker corridors... Where the sunlight never reached.

There were a few people bustling around the entrance Brendan and Dondy had come through. They nodded respectfully to Dondy as they went about their work. She and Brendan took their unconscious captives down to the lower levels. They left Angel with a warden on the bottom most floor and left Buffy in a room two floors up from that. Dondy asked the attendant at the desk to inform either her or Tobie when the Slayer awoke.

Forgetfulness--- Part 4

Xander was worried. He had told everyone what had happened with Buffy.

"I can't believe I listened to that guy! How could I have left Buffy? Who knows what horrible things they are doing to her." The others looked at him. They were obviously thinking the same thing...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It had been one day since Buffy had been taken from the apartment building. She had woken up three hours after Dondy and Brendan had left her in the room at their operations building.

Buffy was lying on the bed staring at a spot on the ceiling. She had been staring at that spot for the past hour. She was hungry, her head was aching and she had decided that standing was more trouble than it was worth. * I'll get up in a little while. Who cares about the pain, it's too boring laying here. * 

With a lot of effort she pulled herself into a standing position and walked around the room to get some balance. When she no longer felt like she was going to fall, she opened the door to her room and stepped out into the hallways. She took a left and headed to the elevator and hit the button for one of the floors that was above ground. The elevator stopped and she got out.

She started to walk the hallways, unsure whether or not she was going the right way. it seemed she forgot a lot of things lately. * Why am I having so much trouble remembering such simple things? I'm usually good at finding my way around places. *

She saw Dondy up ahead of her. "Hey! Dondy!"

"Oh, hi. What's up?"

"Nothing much. Except, I'm kinda lost. Could you show me how to get to the cafeteria again?

"Sure, it's this way."

Dondy lead Buffy there and then asked her what she wanted to eat.

"Um...I don't know. Think we could go out for breakfast? I have a craving for something Denny's."

"I guess there's nothing wrong with going out to breakfast .... Wait here while I get my keys."

Dondy returned a few minutes later. They went to Denny's and chatted over breakfast. On the way back Dondy remembered their captive. "I just remembered I'm on Angel duty. I have to go feed him before he kills someone."

"Angel?"

"Ya Meg, don't you remember? The vampire?"

"His name is Angel? You must have assumed that I would remember his name after he knocked me out and gave me amnesia. Along with this mind splitting headache."

Dondy laughed nervously. "I-I guess so. I must've forgotten that you don't remember much of anything."

The rode in silence for the remainder of the ride. When they arrived at the operations building Dondy stepped into the elevator and pushed the button for the bottom floor.

When it stopped, Dondy walked over to the warden and conversed quietly with him. Buffy took the liberty of looking around. On the right of the elevator, there was a row of cages. All but one of them was empty. In this exception, there was a man. He appeared normal; if you disregarded the fact that he was locked in a cage, chained to the wall and making a deep guttural growl.

Something inside of Buffy kept telling her he was different somehow. Not because of those things, but because of something else. She couldn't figure it out. * Is this the vampire that Dondy was telling me about? * Buffy was consumed in these thoughts. She hardly noticed when Tobie stepped out of the elevator.

He looked around. Dondy was talking to the warden who walked away a minute later, carrying a set of keys. Tobie wandered over to Dondy. She had realized he was here and was smiling. He put his arms around her waist and pulled her close. "Hi" he said and kissed her.

"Hey, how's it going?" she was still smiling happily.

"I'm good." He nodded towards Buffy, "Is this the Slayer that our vampire friend is in love with?"

"I'm not sure. She's not the current slayer. That one is in jail."

"There is only supposed to be one, alive, at a time."

"Both of us know that there's at least one exception to that rule." They shared an identical smile. 

"I'd ask her, but she doesn't remember anything. Brendan took her out pretty hard, I guess."

"I've cautioned him against that. He never heeds my warnings."

Dondy nodded in agreement. "Tell me about it."

Tobie took a deep breath and decided to attempt to dicuss their problem. "If she remembers who she really is she could cause a lot of problems."

"I know. Hopefully the spell will be complete before that happens. Then we can be rid of both of them and our job will be finished. What they do after that time is not our concern."

They both turned to watch Buffy who was standing close to the cage. She was holding onto the bars and watching the unhappy occupant. Dondy could swear that he had quieted down when Buffy had gone over to him. She dismissed the thought as meaningless.

Tobie turned back to Dondy and kissed her gently. Again he wanted more than that, but knew there was no time for anything satisfying. Both of them were to busy. "I have to go. I'll see you after my meeting." Dondy gave him a pouting look. He apologized for having to go, saying how much he hated the incompetent people in those meetings. She pulled him into a more passionate kiss and then sadly let him leave.

Dondy walked over to where Buffy was standing. "So, are you having fun with our resident vamp?" Angel growled loudly; he seemed angry that Dondy had come over to him. 

Buffy gazed at Angel for another beat, the asked, "Do they all act like this when they're under a spell?"

"No, most though. The growling is annoying isn't it?"

"He sounds like a lawnmower that doesn't want to start."

They both laughed.

"So what are we supposed to do?" Buffy asked.

"We wait for that guy," she gestured towards the empty desk, "He went to go get blood."

"Oh. Then what?"

"Then one of us pins him to the wall and the other makes him drink the blood."

"Makes him? Why do we have to make him?"

"When they're like this, they'll refuse anything except a live person."

"Why can't we do that? Wouldn't it make things easier?"

"No, it tends to be really, _really_ messy. Not very easy on the stomach either. And we just had breakfast."

"Oh, all right. Your way it is then."

The guard returned with a container of a dark liquid which he had warmed to approximately body temperature. Dondy took it from him. He handed her the keys as well, pointing out which one would open the door.

She handed the container of blood to Buffy and started unlocking the door. Dondy clarified what Buffy had to do as she fumbled with the door which didn't want to open.

"OK? Are you ready?"

"Yep, let's get this done."

Dondy walked towards Angel who began to struggle. The growling amplified. Dondy moved forward quickly, pinning his arms to the wall. Buffy opened and moved in close to Angel. He was more intent on killing Dondy then Buffy. She lifted his chin so he was no longer glaring at Dondy. Buffy put the container to his lips and he stopped struggling and swallowed the blood. When there was none left, Buffy backed out of the confinement. Dondy quickly followed.

They stood watching Angel.

"I'm amazed" Dondy said at length.

"Why?"

"He shut up."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Now our top priority must be getting Buffy back." Giles was trying to be the rational one in all of this but, he too, was extremely concerned for his Slayer's safety.

He didn't like what had happened anymore than they did. Only, he had to remain calm and try to keep them calm as well. He looked at each of the slayerettes in turn. * They have been through everything Buffy has, but they did it out of choice. All of them have nearly been killed because of that choice, but they still are more than willing to help. Even Cordelia. She may whine and complain, but she's still trying to help. *

"I propose that Xander takes us to the place Buffy was seized from. Maybe there we could find some clue as to where they may have gone."

Xander stood up, he was angry and could only see one way to take out his aggression. 

"Well, none of this would have happened if Angel had just stayed out of Buffy's life. He probably planned this. Ya, this is all his plan to get Buffy back."

Willow spoke up, astounded that Xander would suggest that. "Boy, you're smart! You figured out his evil plan! Buffy may be hurt why are you bringing this up?"

"This just goes to show that's what you get for helping a vampire. I hope he enjoys knowing he probably got Buffy killed."

"Don't say that! Buffy is not dead."

"How do we know that? They could be torturing her to death right now."

"Okay then, we'll do this your way. Remind me who let the guys take Buffy in the first place?" 

Xander looked down at his shoes and didn't reply. He started walking towards the stairs, refusing to look Willow in the eye. She started feeling guilty for sinking that low.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean that. It's just-"

"No, you're right. I never should have left her."

"Xander, we would never have known what happened if you hadn't left. How would dying a 'noble death' have helped Buffy?"

The guilt hit him again, crowding out any thoughts except the ones that told him that he was to blame for all of this. He shook his head, wanting nothing more than to crawl into a hole somewhere. * I think I know why Angel is always brooding. How does he handle this feeling? I just want to sit alone in a room and think about what I can do to undo this, even though there's nothing I can do. How could I have ever betrayed Buffy like this? She's always been a loyal, trustworthy friend. I feel like I back stabbed her. If she dies...I don't know what I'm going to do. * 

Willow was looking at him, concern in her eyes. "You did what was right."

He immediately protested. "Still! I shouldn't have left her."

Giles pitied Xander, he shouldn't be blaming himself. "Let's not discuss who's fault this is. We must concentrate on finding Buffy and making sure she is all right."

"I'll take you to that old apartment building. Maybe those guys left a trail." The others agreed and they started to gather supplies; stakes, weapons, holy water, crosses, Xander added a first aid kit to the pile. Everyone understood his reasoning.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Brendan was pacing and extremely annoyed. Dondy had sent him to find a spell book in the building they had kept Angel in. "Where the fuck is it!? Why did Dondy have to send _me_ to find it!?" He continued to noisily throw stuff about while he searched, not paying much attention to anything else. He didn't like this place. In fact, he hated it. * Why the hell do I get stuck doing this? It is so boring and pointless! Dondy's not fair either! First, I'm not allowed to kill the Slayer and now I'm here because that bitch was too fucking stupid to bring the damn book with her! * He idly threw a shelf across the room.

Xander, Giles, Cordelia and Willow were watching Brendan's tantrum. The shelf clattered by the stairs on which they were standing. Xander motioned that they should follow him out. When he assumed they were out of earshot he spoke. "That's the guy who took Buffy. I don't see the girl though."

Giles thought about this. "And you know this man is a vampire?" 

Xander nodded.

"What about the girl he was with? Is she a vampire as well?"

"I dunno. She was really strong; she broke the metal railing on the staircase like it was a toothpick or something. I'm going to go out on a limb and say she's dangerous."

"I think it's also safe to assume that these two are somehow involved in Angel's kidnapping. Cordelia, is this the same guy who took Angel?" Giles questioned quietly.

"No, this guy is blond, the one who took Angel had brown hair and he was a little shorter."

Xander raised an eyebrow. "So we're looking for a short, brown haired guy. Thanks Cordy, that really narrows down our search."

To avoid another one of their fights Willow broke in before Cordelia had a chance to reply. "Could we maybe follow this guy? He might lead us to the place they took Buffy."

"That's a plausible idea." Giles admitted, "I believe that I saw his car parked just around the corner."

Xander smiled. "So I'm thinking police-chase kinda thing?" The others stared at him, too used to his lame jokes. "Okay, maybe just serial killer pursuing; you know, stalker like?" 

Giles shook his head, took off his glasses, cleaned them and put them back on. From the basement came more crashing sounds. Xander leaned against the wall of the building, incredibly bored. Occasionally he could hear the voice of Buffy's attacker. The wave of guilt would hit him and his mind repeatedly replayed the scene over and over again. His increasing boredom didn't help to stop this, either.

Abruptly the noises stopped. Everyone froze, afraid that the vampire had heard them, vampires did have good hearing after all. His exclamation told them otherwise.

"Finally! I found it! Now Dondy won't rip my throat out when I get back." The sound of footsteps came towards the group standing out side. They hurried back to their cars and waited.

The vampire who had hurt Buffy appeared, holding a book. He seemed to be in a rush as he got into his car and started the engine. Giles quickly did the same and followed the vampire onto the highway.

Xander didn't want to miss this opportunity to annoy Giles by back seat driving. "Okay now go slow and stay a car or two behind. Make sure you keep an eye on him though."

"I know Xander. You may gather your experience from the movies, but I have tailed someone before. I don't need you telling me how to do this."

"Ruin my fun, why don't you?"

"Gladly."

Buffy's attacker was heading towards a turnoff. Xander didn't miss a beat. "Follow him! He's turning!"

Giles was already doing this by the time Xander said this. "I'm quite sure that's what I'm doing, now be quiet."

Xander grinned triumphantly having accomplished his goal. The vampire parked his car haphazardly in front of a large building and stepped out carrying the book he had destroyed the basement to find.

Giles drove past him and Xander immediately protested. "Where are _you_ going? He got out back there!"

"I know, but wouldn't you find it suspicious if someone followed you and then parked next to you?"

"Wow, G-man! You really _have_ done this before, haven't you?"

Giles ignored Xander's comment and parked their car. Cordelia parked hers as well. 

"Now we will wait a few minutes and then we can go back." He said when Cordy and Willow got out. They reluctantly headed back and sat, waiting.

Xander sighed dejectedly and stayed where he was. He looked around, seeing nothing out of the ordinary. * This looks like a quiet, normal neighborhood, but then again, so does Sunnydale a lot of the time. I wonder what evil is lurking... * He looked down and started fiddling with a loose thread from his shirt.

"All right, that should be enough time," said Giles. Immediately, the slayerettes rushed out of the cars and headed off towards the building. Giles rolled his eyes and hurried to catch up with them before they just barged into that place and demanded to know where Buffy was. Knowing them, it was entirely viable.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Buffy was sitting alone in her room again. Throughout the day, little bits and pieces of her life had been coming back to her. She now knew that this place wasn't where she belonged; these people were lying to her. * I know that vampire...What was his name again?...Angel! I know Angel better than they're telling me. Maybe he was my friend and then someone did something to him, making him act this way. * She gave up trying to put together her past.

There was a knock at the door. Buffy didn't hear it.

"Meg? Are you in there? Megan?" called Dondy, sounding concerned.Tobie had asked her to check in on the Slayer every so often. 'Megan' wasn't responding though."Meg?"

"I'm here." Buffy answered quietly. She briefly wondered if Megan was her real name. 

Dondy entered. "Hey. Are you OK?"

"I'm fine. I just didn't hear you knocking."

"Why not? Is something wrong?"

"I'm not sure." Dondy gave Buffy a quizzical look. Buffy continued. "It's just that nothing makes sense, it's confusing. Are you telling me everything?"

"Truth?" Dondy asked, her eyebrows raised, wondering if Buffy really wanted to know what had happened. Buffy nodded.

"We don't really know you. I mean, we're pretty sure we know what you are, but as for who...we're making things up as we go along."

Buffy thought this through. "So what _do _you know?"

Dondy thought for a second. "We know you're the Slayer. That's about it."

This sounded familiar to Buffy. "And my name?"

"We don't have a clue."

"So why Megan?"

Dondy paused, trying to remember their reasoning for calling the slayer Megan. It dawned on her. "It's the name of a...friend of mine." 

Buffy nodded. The name thing had been bothering her. Megan just didn't sound right. "So what's really going on here?"

"I'm not permitted to tell you everything, but I guess I should at least explain how you got here."

"All right. Start explaining. I want to know." She listened quietly as Dondy told how Buffy had found Dondy, Brendan and Angel, gave unclear excerpts from the fight that ensued and explained why they had taken Buffy back with them.

"So you took me here because you thought I could keep Angel under control?" Buffy asked, making sure she had the facts right.

"Something like that."

"Did I know Angel?" Buffy asked.

"We guess," Dondy said. 

Buffy looked at her, relalising she used that term an awful lot."Who's this 'we' you're always talking about?"

"Me, Tobie and I guess who you could call our... Bosses." 

Buffy tried to get Dondy to clarify more."Bosses?" 

"Yup." Dondy obviously wasn't going to say anything. 

Buffy decided to change the subject a little. "Do you think my friends are looking for me? Do I even have any?"

"Positive to both. We didn't think Angel had many friends. We weren't prepared for you and whoever is in your posse."  
Buffy laughed at the irony in that statement. "You mean the posse that I don't even remember?"

"Yup." Dondy snickered. "I gotta go. Tobie promised that he'd meet me after his meeting."

"All right. I'll see you later."

Dondy left. Buffy lay down and wondered who her friends were. Memory flashes gave her faces, but no names. She remembered someone with red hair. Spending hours in a library with musty old books and a British librarian whom she knew well. There were memories of when she was fighting vampires, demons, werewolves and...Angel? People dying, Angel being killed by her own hand to save the world and she, herself dying. 

She wondered if her friends would ever find her, help her make sense of these memories. She would just have to wait.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"YOU TOLD HER WHAT!?" Tobie yelled.

Dondy on the other hand sat quietly on the couch watching him pace and fume. "You heard me the first time."

"I know that! I don't believe you actually SAID THAT TO HER!!"

"She has the right to know."

"No she doesn't! She's our prisoner!" Tobie countered angrily. He sat down on the opposite side of the couch and put his head in his hands. "You do know she could blow our entire operation if she gets out of hand, don't you."

"Yes, I do and no, she won't." Dondy said calmly. She shifted over so she was sitting next to him, put her head down on his shoulder and her arm around him. "It'll be fine. Trust me. There is nothing to worry about yet."

He looked over at her. * God, no matter what century we're in or what she does, I still love her. Where would I be without her? Destined to live over and over again without real love or hope, that's where. * Dondy was an immortal, as was Tobie, only his case differed slightly. He was a powerful sorcerer and had found an immortality spell- one where his essence, his soul would be reincarnated continually. He could have stopped the cycle any time he wanted, but what fun was growing old without someone to share it all with? He chose instead to wait until Dondy was no longer immortal.

After a moment to recollect his thoughts, he conceded that Dondy was right; at least for now. "I guess you're right."

Dondy smiled at him. "Poor baby. You're all stressed out." She began to massage his shoulders and back.

He strectched and let her ease the tension in his muscles. "Right again. Ohhh that feels good; keep doing that."

She rubbed harder in the spot between his shoulder blades. After a moment she leaned in close to his ear and whispered, "When's your next meeting?"

"An hour or so. Why?"

She gave him a come-on!-are-you-kidding-me? look in response.

"Ohh. Sorry, it's the stress."

"We'll just see about that, now won't we?"

Needless to say, there were no more worries about Slayers or meetings for the next hour.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Xander, your plan will never work." Giles protested. He was astounded that the other teenagers agreed with Xander.

Xander immediately started defending his idea. "It will work! It's the best plan I've ever had. Next to using a rocket launcher on the Judge, of course."

Giles refused to agree with Xander. The plan was suicide. There was no way the people in that building were stupid enough to allow this plan work.

"Come on. We can pull it off! Isn't it a good plan Will?"

"Well it's-" Willow started.

"See? Even she agrees with me."

"I guess you're right." Giles said, "It does appear to be the only course of action at this time."

Xander beamed. Giles had finally given in after only 5 minutes of trying to convince him.

Giles put his hand over his eyes in defeat. "I can't believe I'm agreeing to this," He sighed and took his hand away from his face. "Lets practice this and see if it has any chance, whatsoever, of succeeding." 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Xander walked into the building that Buffy's kidnapper had led them to. It was dark inside and Xander nearly tripped over something that was lying in the middle of the hallway. He had a strange desire not to find out what it was. This place was just too creepy for him. 

The corridors were mostly deserted and the people who walked these passages walked stealthily, as if someone or something might attack them at any moment. He took a left, heading towards light from the better lit part of the building. When he could see his hands in front of his face, he looked around at his surroundings.

The walls were bare except for the occasional door. Xander realized that it would appear out of place if he was looking around; he wanted to seem like he'd been here many times before and was used to the surroundings.

Up ahead of him the corridor opened into a room. Here, there was a desk and a man sitting at it. The man looked bored and he immediately caught sight of Xander. * Well there goes the sneak-by-the-guards-before-they-see-me scenario. Guess I'll have to resort to Plan B. *

"Who are you?" The man asked, getting right to the point.

"Harris." Xander replied, using his last name.

"What do you want?"

"I'm looking for...Uh...what's her name...I know this..."

"Dondy?" The secretary cut off, not wanting to waste time with this loser whom he'd never seen before. Xander nodded and agreed, using the name. "Ya, Dondy."

The secretary considered calling security on this kid for fun, but decided to let the new guy get used to working here. Why freak the kid out on what was obviously his first day? "Why are you looking for her?"

Xander paused to remember the line he had practiced. "It's about the book from the other building."

The secretary consulted his computer, typed for a moment and then turned back to Xander. "Brendan brought it in about 20 minutes ago"

Xander was happy that Giles had prepared him for this predicament. "I know, but the old thing was falling apart and Brendan, he accidentally left a piece of it behind."

"And this has...What to do with Dondy? You're supposed to give it to Tony anyway."

"I was having trouble finding it and I wanted to know if it was really important. Where is she?" 

The secretary rolled his eyes and looked back at his computer. * Rookie, why didn't he call? I should report him to Tobie. This kid is so incredibly stupid. * 

"Level S-1. She was in on of the conference rooms last I knew."

Xander thanked him and headed towards a hallway to the left of the desk. It was bright and more inviting than the way he had come.

The secretary watched him for a little while, amused at this new kid's stupidity. "Ummm....Where are you going? That elevator won't take you to the sub-1st level. You have to take the one over there."

He pointed to the right of his desk and Xander sheepishly followed the directions he'd been given. "Ha...ha...Sorry. I got confused."

Xander quickened his step to avoid the secretary's annoyed stare. He saw the elevator, stepped inside and looked at the buttons. There were the numbers 1-5 and the letters 'T' and 'S'. He let out a 'here goes nothing' sigh and pressed 1, then 'S'. That's what the guy had said. Nothing happened. * Wait, that guy said 'S' first, so maybe that's what I have to press first. * He pushed the 'S' button and then the 1. The elevator began to move downward.

The ride was a short one and Xander stepped out when it stopped. He started walking, looking for a place where they could be keeping Buffy. These hallways were a little brighter than the room where he had met the secretary. He took a turn, not really concentrating on where he was going. Willow had said to start searching for Buffy on the same floor that the girl was on. * Now I have names. Giles will be proud of me! See, my plan is working perfectly. Not a flaw in it. *

Xander smiled, walking more confidently. He nodded to some people who passed him, trying to appear indifferent. They just nodded back. He passed a room who's door was open. There was a long table with people seated at it. A man was standing at the head of this table, lecturing about security. Xander forced himself to continue on and not laugh or eavesdrop for fear of getting caught. *Secruity in this place is a joke. *

He walked for a few more turns and came to some rooms that looked as though they were bedrooms. 

Two voices became audible. For some reason they caught Xander's attention. He found out why when he could hear them better. They were the voices of Buffy's two assailants.

"But why did _I_ have to go? It was YOUR fault! Couldn't you have sent someone else?" That was the guy who had knocked out Buffy. Brendan.

"Sorry. Tobie and I were busy and you were the only other person I wouldn't have to give directions to."

Brendan mumbled something incoherent in reply and Dondy must've hit him because the next noise that came from that direction was a cry, more out of surprise than pain. 

Xander didn't want to stick around to explain why he was dropping in for a visit. He tried the handle to the closest door. It was locked. Xander's heart started pounding. He tried the next door, it was locked too. He listened to the voices, hoping that Brendan and Dondy would go into a room or at least stop to argue. The voices had only gotten louder...Which meant that they were getting closer. Brendan's threats played in Xander's mind, adding to the frantic feeling of fear he already had.

He desperately tried to force the door open. It wouldn't budge. He moved on to the next door which was around the corner. It opened. Xander rushed in, not really caring where he had ended up.

He lingered by the door, listening, waiting for Dondy and Brendan to pass. They came closer and Xander tried to understand what they were saying. If only his breathing wasn't so loud he might have been able to hear them. Their voices became distinguishable. 

"I'm serious Dondy, I heard something. Someone was running."

"When did you start enforcing the 'no running in the house' rule? Or any rule for that matter..."

"Don't you hear that? Someone's...hyperventilating or-"

"Yes, but I think you're just trying to get off the subject. Now, you can't go around trying to kill Da-"

"I swear someone here is up to something! Can't we check it out?"

They paused just outside of the door to the room Xander was hiding in. Their voices were coming in loud and clear now.

"Brendan! Would you STOP trying to get me off the subject!?! If you don't knock it off, I am going to BEAT YOU until even your carcass isUNRECOGNIZABLE!!!! Got it!?"

Brendan opened his mouth to protest but changed what he was going to say. "I get the point. I believe you were talking about me going off and trying to kill your associate vampire friends."

"I swear, you are the most jealous vampire I have ever met." She started walking and Brendan followed, allowing himself a small smile of victory. He had successfully gotten her off the subject.

Their voices started to die away. Xander breathed a sigh of relief. He was safe. He stood up straight and opened the door a crack to peer out. * Giles would be extra proud. I didn't get caught. * He saw no one in the hallway so he opened the door most of the way and did a little extra searching. Never can be too careful when it come to vampires.

Before he could get it open far enough to step out, he was shoved forward. The door slammed shut, the noise echoing through the hallways. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Giles, Willow and Cordelia were waiting outside the building Xander had gone into 20 minutes ago. They were waiting for a call from him; he had promised to call in 15-25 minutes unless there was trouble. Everyone was starting to get anxious, especially Cordelia.

"He better not have gotten himself killed or something," The other two nodded, she continued. "He has my cell phone and if he dies I'll never get it back!"

Giles, once again, tried to be the voice of reason. "He should be calling soon, but, knowing Xander, it may take longer.

"You better be right about that!" Cordelia huffed. Giles could tell that she actually cared what happened to Xander. Experience told him that this was just how she chose to react. He looked over to Willow. She was staring at that building with a worried expression on her face.

"Do you think Buffy, Angel and Xander will be OK?"

Giles understood why she had mentioned them by name. She wanted to make sure that when he answered, he was talking about all three of them, not just two. "They will all be fine, I'm sure."

Willow simply agreed with him. The three of them looked up at the building which held their friends captive.

Cordy looked down at the cell phone she had 'borrowed' from Wesley. It was silent. She checked her watch again. * 30 minutes, Xander should have called by now. He must be in trouble. * She checked her watch again, willing Xander to do the same, then looked back at her phone. * Maybe the battery died? It's probably out of range. There are plenty of reasons why Xander hasn't called yet. He could have forgotten to check his watch, or his watch stopped. Maybe he forgot how to turn the phone on. That's very possible, this is Xander. * Cordelia checked her cell phone just to be sure. She found nothing wrong with it.

"Hey, do either of you know what Xander did with my cappuchino?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Xander tried to overcome his surprise and fear. Someone had him pushed against the door and they were really strong. Xander was almost positive that Brendan and Dondy had heard the door slam.

The pressure against his back increased and his aggressor spoke.

"Who are you and what do you want?"

Xander was about to reply with something like 'that's getting a little repetitive, don't you think?', but he felt like he couldn't breathe. It took him a couple of seconds to get his vocal cords to respond.

"Buffy? Is that you? It's me, Xander."

Buffy backed up a few steps so he could turn around. "Xander?" She asked, sounding as if this were the first time she had ever said the name.

"Buffy! I am so glad to see you!" Xander shouted as he rushed forward and hugged Buffy tightly. He had no way of knowing he was stirring up memories in his friend. Memories that she had forgotten and had been trying to understand for most of the day. Everything seemed just a little clearer now that she had a friend who really knew who she was.

This feeling was making her a little dizzy. She pushed away from Xander and sat down on her bed, putting her head in her hands.

This action worried Xander. "Are you OK Buffy?"

Buffy looked up at him. She was surprised that she could connect his face with the flashbacks that she'd been having. "My name is Buffy?" It sounded right for some reason or another.

"Ya, most people know their names. What did they do to you? What happened?"

"I...Uh have amnesia. I was told my name is Megan."

"What!?"

Buffy smiled at Xander, he seemed nice and he obviously cared about her. * Maybe he can help me remember my past. *

There was a loud 'CRACK' as the door went flying in, the handle broken off. In the doorway, stood Brendan. He looked at Xander, realized who he was and marched in angrily. He was rather annoyed about being in trouble with Dondy and now he had someone to take his aggression out on.

"YOU! I AM GOING TO KILL YOU!!!"

Xander looked as though he'd just had a heart attack. His eyes went wide and he became pale. The hyperventilating started again, but, as before, he stayed where he was and held onto his small shield of bravado. * Where is Dondy, she seems reasonable. Well...more reasonable than this guy. *

Buffy had been startled, but she knew Brendan wouldn't hurt her. She had met him when Dondy stopped by yesterday, and he wouldn't risk being punished.

Brendan started advancing, his face changing from the guise of a human to the actuality of the demon that coexisted with his soul.

"BRENDAN! What do you think you're doing!? BACK OFF RIGHT NOW!!!"

Brendan turned to face Dondy. She didn't look pleased with him.

"Sorry. Leaving." He tried to walk past her, but she stopped him.

"You're not getting off that easy. I expect to find you on S-3 by the time I get through here."

Brendan looked down at his feet and nodded. Dondy stepped out of his way and glared disapprovingly as he walked out the door. With that problem dealt with, she turned to face Buffy and her friend.

"Sorry about him. He doesn't have a conscience."

Xander was still slightly pale looking. He swallowed nervously.

Dondy opened her mouth to speak, only the sounds of a fight made her forget that she had ever planned to say anything.

From somewhere down the hallway came an inhuman growl followed by several crashes and the sound of flesh connecting with flesh.

"Stay. I'll be back." Dondy ordered over her shoulder as she ran out the door. She knew all to well that Brendan had gotten himself into trouble. Again.

"Okay." Buffy called to the figure, who had already disappeared down the hallway.

"Oh no. You're not staying here. Come on." Xander grabbed Buffy's arm and dragged her in the opposite direction that Dondy had taken. Thankfully, he soon saw the elevator he had come down in. * At least we can be on a different floor by the time she realizes we left. *

"Where are we going?" Buffy asked innocently.

"To see some more of our friends. How do we get out of here without being interrogated by a secretary?"

"You be nice to him and don't act like a idiot. He hates it when people don't know procedure." She punched some buttons and the elevator went up.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

Tobie watched over the meeting that was taking place. He had been late, but it couldn't have been helped. Trey was speaking about something Slayer related, but Tobie had zoned out.

"If we play this right and everything goes according to plan, then-- Tobie? Tobie?"

Tobie looked up, a little embarrassed at being caught not paying attention in an important conference. "Huh?"

"Could you pay attention? we need your input on this topic."

"Which would be..." Tobie hadn't even been coherent long enough to find out why this assembly had been called.

"The Slayer, the vampire and what we're going to do about them."

"Oh. I've been having a stressful day."

"Still, we need to figure out how we can accomplish the task at hand without tempting the wrath of the Slayer and her group. I hear they are a force to be reckoned with."

"Yeah, Dondy doesn't seem to be concerned about it. you know she's been right in the past."

Trey immediately objected. "The Slayer can crash our whole business in a matter of minutes. I hear Dondy admitted that the Slayer isn't who we've told her she is. Dondy had specific orders not to do that."

"I know. She said that she wanted to gain the Slayer's trust or something. Like it could help us or something."

"I doubt it, unless Dondy told her everything, then that scenario would be plausible. But we have specific orders from _them_ that this be carried out without the Slayer ever getting knowledge of those orders."

Tobie nodded. "So how do we pull this off?"

"Memory inhibiting spells may be necessary. That way we can release both the Slayer and the vampire without difficulty."

"Dondy doesn't want to do that. She feels that they'll only be even if he remembers."

"Too bad. He doesn't even know what he did. She'll have to deal with our decision. It'll be based on what we believe is what the Powers would have us do in this situation."

Trey looked around the conference table. "All in favor of using a spell?"

All but 2 people put their hands up. 

"You're out-voted Tobie. Tell Dondy that it still balances even though he won't know it was her. After all, he wasn't aware of what he did either."

Tobie nodded, accepting the decision without further argument. Personally, he agreed with Dondy. The Slayer and her gang had gained a reputation of being reasonable and trustworthy.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I can't wait any longer. We must use another entrance and find Xander." Giles started walking towards the back of the building. He had seen a few people head back there, carrying boxes.

"One of you should stay in case he comes back."

"I'm coming with you. Cordelia, you stay here and wait for Xander." Willow caught up with Giles, carrying their bag of supplies over her shoulder.

Cordelia was left by herself. "Well at least I don't have to go into _that_ place." She shuddered at that thought.

She looked around nervously, feeling as if she were being watched. Something moved in the shadows. * It's just the wind. Not a vampire, or a demon, or that guy. *

She looked around her, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary. A cold wind blew and she shivered involuntarily. She had been waiting for at least 6 minutes and nothing had happened. She didn't like being alone and wished that she had gone with Giles and Willow. 7 minutes, something clicked nearby.

She stifled a scream of surprise when the phone rang. "Hello?"

"Hey Cordy, sorry I'm late. Ran into some old friends."

"It's about time! Why couldn't you have called 10 minutes ago? Then Giles and Willow would never have left me alone like this to go look for you!"

Xander paused. "They're looking for me?"

"Yes. Where are you?"

"Right behind you."

Cordelia turned around and saw him standing on the other side of the street. He smiled and waved to her.

"Then why did you call me? Come here right now."

"Okay. I'll be right over. Bye." He walked towards her with another person following him.

"Buffy?" Cordelia asked, not believing that Xander had actually done something right.

"Um...Hi, yes, I'm Buffy." She smiled. Her smile faltered and she looked over to Xander. "Right?"

Xander nodded and explained the amnesia thing to Cordelia.

"Oh. OK then. You're Buffy. Bu-ffee, our friend, the Vampire Slayer." Cordy was speaking slowly as though Buffy were stupid.

"And you're Cordy. Cor-dee, also known as Cordelia. I think you're an actress, too."

"Hey wait a minute. Xander, you never said anything about selective Amnesia."

Buffy spoke before Xander got the chance. "I can remember some stuff. The name thing gives me trouble because they called me something else."

"How long have Giles and Willow been gone?" Xander inquired.

"About 10 minutes now, probably more than that."

"We should wait here before we have this cycle thing where we keep going in to look for each other and missing them when they come out. And then they come looking for us..." Xander admired Buffy's I'm-the-Slayer-so-I'm-in-charge attitude.

Xander and Cordelia spent the next 25 minutes or so giving Buffy the shortened version of her life story. The more they talked, the more memories came back. Not everything made sense yet, but now she had people who would help her fix that problem.

"And last Halloween, when those demons were trying to resurrect-" Buffy cut Xander off by holding up a hand.

"What is it?"

"Listen"

The sounds of something being dragged could be heard. The people dragging it were breathing hard and occasionally grunting with the strain. 

Xander, Cordelia and Buffy stared, waiting for whatever it was to come around the corner.

It was Giles. He was half carrying and half dragging Angel, who was only semi-conscious.

"Angel?" Buffy asked in a low voice.

"Of course you remember him! You don't remember me, but you remember Dead boy. That's not fair!" Xander protested.

Buffy ignored him and ran over to Angel, and helped Giles support him while they waited for Willow to drive Giles's car over. She pulled up, and Giles and Buffy strained to get Angel into the back. 

Willow appeared to notice Buffy for the first time and pulled her friend into a hug. "Buffy! You're OK!" She stood back, "You are OK, right?"

"I'm fine. Willow." The last word was said with some uncertainty. Giles gave Buffy a curios look, wondering why she seemed unsure of her best friend's name.

Xander shoved Giles towards the driver's side door. "I'll explain on the way back. We need to get out of here before Dondy realizes that Buffy and Angel are missing."

Xander got into the passenger side of Giles car, while Cordy, Willow and Buffy left in Cordelia's car. They pulled away quickly, not wanting to stay near this place longer than necessary.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I need a volunteer." Tobie had called a assembly right after getting out of the last one to deal with the new problem they now had. He was sick of these conferences. To make it short, he was not happy with what had happened, and having to call yet another meeting really pissed him off.

Dondy raised her hand, offering to explain what had happened, already knowing that would be his request. She was positive that no one else would volunteer when Tobie was in this bad of a mood.

"All right then. Would you mind explaining to me how a civilian walked in, took the Slayer, as well as her vampire friend, and then walked back out unhindered."

"Well. Mark thought he was someone I sent to retrieve the spell book, so he told that kid where I was. Somehow, he ran into the Slayer, whose name is Buffy by the way." Tobie nodded, filing this information for later use. "Anyway, Brendan tried to kill the kid, I stopped him and had to save his pathetic life because Damien wanted to kill Brendan. While I was doing that, they ran out of here."

"And Angel?".

"Angel must have escaped on his own; we won't know for sure until the warden wakes up."

"Why didn't you just allow Brendan kill the kid?"

Mark raised his hand just enough so that it was noticeable. 

"What!?" Tobie demanded.

"H-His name is Harris...I think."

"You _think_? I have good reason to doubt that statement."

Mark stayed silent. Tobie attempted to calm down, wishing he and Dondy could be alone again. "Why did you let Buffy go?"

"I didn't know she was captive, sir."

That made Tobie lose what little calmness he had left. He slammed his fist onto the wooden table. He could feel his aggravation rising. He had told everyone that Buffy was a captive. "OK then. Dondy, why didn't you let Brendan kill _Harris_?" He glared at Mark when he said the name.

"You know Brendan as well as I do. What would have prevented him from moving on to the Slayer?" 

"Does it matter? You know the rule; one Slayer dies, another is called. That means they are more or less dispensable." Tobie looked around at the faces of the people in his small assembly. His eyes met Dondy's and stayed there. "Well, most of them are dispensable. I can think of one who's not."

The Conclusion--- Part 5

It had taken an hour to trigger Buffy's memory and another half hour to get over the excitement as she told them assorted things they had done together. Now they were in research mode, trying to figure out what was going on. Xander and Buffy relayed everything they could remember about Dondy and her operation. This left everyone confused. Giles was the first to put this feeling to words.

"Why did Dondy try to befriend you, Buffy? And why did she stop Brendan from killing Xander?"

Buffy shook her head and shrugged. "That's what gets me. I mean, if she's evil then why would she try not to kill people?"

"Maybe she's like Angel," Willow suggested. Angel, who was tied up in the bedroom, chose that moment to renew his struggling. Everyone turned to look in his direction.

"I think I should rephrase that."

"It's possible," Giles conceded. "But then why would she turn Angel this way?"

"My brilliant plan proved that it was a spell!" Xander shouted to get everyone's attention.

Giles rolled his eyes, briefly wishing Brendan had killed Xander. He wouldn't be able to annoy anyone, then. "As much as I hate to admit it, Xander's right. A spell did this to Angel." Xander looked amazed.

"Let's search through any spell books that we can find," Willow recommended. "Maybe there's a cure or a reversal spell."

"OK, now we've got a plan. Everyone get to work." Buffy told her friends. She got up from her chair and walked into Angel's bedroom.

Angel's tantrum had been short-lived. He was seething quietly when Buffy entered, unhappy that he was tied down and could hardly move. He growled softly as Buffy walked in.

"Hey, Angel," she said, not expecting any sort of response from him. He ceased growling and looked up at her, giving her his full attention.

"Well you stopped growling, that has to be a good thing." He continued to look at her silently. Buffy sat down next to him.

Like this, he was extremely lethal and needed to be controlled somehow. Xander, of course, had immediately suggested staking him. Buffy had smacked him for that comment, but admitted that Angel wouldn't stay unconscious forever. They needed to contain him and soon. Still, Buffy didn't like the idea of doing that, it was demoralizing.

Since he had been under such high guard at the other place, Giles had decided it was necessary to tie him up thoroughly. The result was a very unhappy vampire, who was prone to throwing tantrums. They had tied him securely with rope so that he couldn't move, then bound his hands above his head onto the bedpost. He was not pleased with this and Buffy could only imagine how uncomfortable he was.

At first, he would attempt to lunge at anyone within a five foot radius. They had decided to leave him alone, not wanting to irritate him further. Dealing with werewolf Oz on the night before, after and of the full moon had been a good training and was really coming in handy now with the situation with Angel.

He struggled suddenly for no reason, as if sensing her pity. He looked pleadingly at her with his soulful brown eyes.

"Sorry. I can't untie you. Giles' orders."

He struggled a few more seconds before giving up. Buffy sighed and idly put her hand on the bed rung, near Angel's hands. He shied away.

"So you're afraid of me now? What happened to me being dinner?" Buffy turned away and wondered why she even bothered talking to him. * It's not as if he's going to say anything to me. *

Angel stopped trying to inch away from Buffy and resumed watching her.

"Didn't your mother teach you that it's not polite to stare?" Obviously not, he kept doing it. He wasn't acting very threatening, so Buffy decided to find out how close to him she could get before he freaked out in some way. Since there was only research to be done, and Buffy avoided that as a rule, pestering Angel would be a welcome distraction. It would help while away the dull hours of analyzing books older than most Egyptian pyramids. 

Buffy closed her hand into a fist then slowly reached out toward him. She had heard somewhere that this was the proper way to approach a frightened animal. She moved her hand towards him a little bit at a time, pausing when it was above his hands. Angel had stopped gazing into her eyes and was now looking at her closed palm, gauging it's proximity to his own. Buffy gingerly opened her hand and placed it on his.

He tried to move away, a frenzied look coming into his eyes. The ropes stopped him from getting very far and he immediately started struggle again.

"Hey. I'm not going to hurt you. Calm down," Buffy said in a soothing voice. Angel gradually relented in his frantic excursion and slowly began to calm down.

Buffy continued on in the same voice, "No one's going to hurt you. You don't have to worry." The struggling ceased. "Did they do something to you there?...Besides the whole spell thing."

As she spoke, Buffy started moving her other hand towards him, in the same fashion as before. When he got that delirious look again, she paused and began talking.

"You're freaking again. Calm down, Angel. I promise I won't hurt you." She started moving her hand, at a painstakingly slow pace, towards his. "You're our friend... and by 'our' I mean Willow... and Cordelia.... and Giles...." Buffy stopped speaking when she touched him, and waited for his reaction.

"Not so bad, huh?" She had both of her hands on top of his, and he remained calm. On the verge of struggling, but still calm. He kept glancing from their hands to her face and back again.

"Buffy? Come here!" Willow's urgent voice broke into the tranquil moment. Angel jerked back violently, growling.

Buffy groaned. "I'll be back soon," she told Angel as she walked back into the living room.

"I hope this is important. I actually had Angel under control."

"That might have been the last time _anyone_ has him under control," Xander shouted. He was sick and tired of Buffy's concern over Mr. Vampire with a Tortured Soul and worried about the return of their greatest enemy-Angelus.

"What do you mean by that?"

Giles looked up from the collection of books on the table in front of him. "We think Willow found the spell. Angel's new characteristics dovetail to the ones described here."

He stopped there. Buffy looked at him expectantly, but he pretended to be too engrossed in his book to notice.

"Well?"

Buffy looked over at Xander and than Cordy. They both turned away, fidgeting. Buffy stared at Willow, knowing she would break down and tell.

"Willow? What does this spell do?" 

"It's umm....kind of- it's like the gypsy curse, sort of...What I mean is..." Willow trailed off. The mention of gypsy curses coupled with Willow's nervousness started to worry Buffy. Willow sighed and told her straight out. * No sense in procrastinating. She has to know. *

"The spell is going to take his soul and make it so that it can never be returned." She looked away for a moment before continuing. "And his soul will be damned to eternal torment. From the looks of it, it'll be soon- 2 hours tops."

Buffy took this in, trying to keep calm. * So Angelus will return and there will be no way to get Angel back because the Angel we all know and love...okay, so maybe I should say 'the Angel we all know that is not a homicidal murderer' will be stuck in hell. *

"And this just when I thought things couldn't get more unfair for Angel."

Xander grinned. "So? All you have to do is kill Angelus and then Angel will mysteriously come back again. Cake."

Willow glared at him. "What part of 'eternal damnation' didn't you understand?"

"The eternal part. Come on! There has to be some way to save Dead boy."

Giles stopped his pretending-to-read-as-to-not-see-Buffy's-heartbroken-face gig to try and give her a little hope. "The spell can be reversed by the person who cast it...But only them." A little hope, but not much. 

"Then let's pay another visit to our friendly neighborhood vamp-nappers," Xander suggested.

"Are you certain that it was they who did this?" Giles questioned.

"Of course they are! That Brendan guy is evil!"

Buffy allowed herself a small smile despite the troubled air that had begun not long after they had arrived in LA. "Just because he permanently traumatized you when he burst into my room screaming 'I'm gonna kill you!!" She snickered, remembering his expression.

Xander looked over at the fascinating glass bookcase on the far wall and muttered something about 'going along with it.' 

"Okay, so we go and see Dondy...Let's get this over with." 

"Wait," Giles interjected. "Let's not go running off half-cocked here."

"I've got a plan though," Buffy protested. "Me and Xander scout out their base, see if anyone knows where Dondy went to." Giles opened his mouth to say something again, Buffy held up a hand to stop him. "The rest of you, check out the surrounding area. I heard her say that she and Tobie were going out."

"Out? As in dating?" Cordy asked.

"No, as in someplace...They could be dating, I don't know."

"Why Cordy?" Xander asked, trying to start something. "Do you have a problem with non-human types dating?"

"Hello stupid! I work for a vampire whose story we all know."

"Back on topic here." Buffy objected, not wanting this discussion to go any further.

Xander tried to concentrate. "Okay. On topic- What do we do if we find Dondy?"

Buffy paused before answering. "We force her to come with us...Somehow."

"What if we threaten that Tobie guy or one of her friends? Maybe we could say we took them hostage." Cordy, as was getting more frequent lately, had a decent idea. She had changed since high school. Xander, on the other hand, never changed.

"And how are we supposed to convince her when he's sitting right next to her?"

So the bickering started again. "I said 'or one of her friends.' Had you been listening instead of being a useless member of the team, then you might have heard me."

"Hey! I'm not useless. I got Buffy out and it was _my _plan that did it!"

"So? You're the one who got her in there in the first place!"

"Okay," Buffy broke in. "Let's not argue about this right now. We don't have a lot of time."

"Fine," Xander and Cordelia grumbled in unison.

"I agree with Cordelia's plan." Buffy continued quickly so no one could object or interrupt her, "It's the only plan we can pull off in time. If you find Dondy alone, try it then call me. I'll take Wesley's cell phone."

"Alright. Not so half-cocked after all. Are you sure that just you and Xander should go?"

Buffy looked over at her watcher. She had been waiting for him to object to that part. "Yes, we've been inside and anyway, they're bound to be suspicious. Only 2 people should go."

Giles had to admit that Buffy was becoming quite good at making plans. * Two or three years ago, she would have just run off to save Angel. Never stopping to heed my warnings or to think things through. She's matured, all of them have. * He looked over at Xander, who was sticking his tongue out at Cordelia. She rolled her eyes and looked away. * Well...maybe some more that others. *

"Everyone should get weapons. But bear in mind that not all of the people working with Dondy are demons."

"Dondy definitely seems human," Buffy agreed. 

Xander stood up and walked over to the table on which all their weapons had been spread out. "Cool! We get to play undercover agent. My name is Antwon, you are Jen. Die before you tell them our real names," he said in a corny French accent.

Buffy shot him a look. 

"What Jen?" He asked normally, putting on his best innocent and clueless face.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dondy and Tobie were sitting on a rooftop, watching the sun set over the city. They were a few blocks away from the operations building, but still in sight and running distance of it. If the need arose, they could both be there in less than 5 minutes.

They were relaxing, enjoying being away from their problems, even if it was just for a moment.

"You wanna go catch a movie or something?" Dondy asked out of the blue.

"No, I want to stay here. With you." As he said the last sentence he pulled her tightly to him and rested his chin on her head, half expecting the usual comment of 'Hey, I'm not a headrest!' It didn't come though.

Together, they silently watched the cars and people pass below them, the sky turning darker, the air getting colder. Tobie was beginning to think that he might actually be able to fully relax. After the hectic events of the past couple of days, simply sitting quietly with the person he loved was like heaven.

As if to ruin the moment, his pager went off. Groaning, he glanced down at it, wondering why he had even bothered bringing it.

Dondy handed him her cellphone. "Here. Call in and see if it's important."

He nodded, took it from her and dialed the number. "Yes, this is Tobie. I want to know why you paged me." There was a long pause. "Alright. I'll be there in a few minutes."

She gave him a pouting look.

"Sorry. The Slayer has returned to cause more trouble," Tobie informed.

Dondy sighed dejectedly. "Fine...Let's go."

"No, you stay here. This shouldn't occupy too much of our time."

She nodded and agreed reluctantly. Tobie turned and began to lean over the edge of the building. He came back suddenly kissed her, turned around again and jumped.

She wandered over and watched him jump off the roof of the second building, which was halfway between the one she was standing on and the street. It was much more convenient than the stairs, and less time consuming as well.

Tobie started walking towards the operations building at a fast pace. He turned momentarily. Dondy waved sadly, and he waved back.

Dondy sat down on the ledge and idly tapped her fingers against the cold stone. Out of boredom, she wandered the rooftop waiting for Tobie to get back. After about 20 minutes, she heard footsteps in the stairwell. The door opened.

Dondy smiled. "Hey, what took you so long?" But instead of Tobie, 2 people cautiously walked through the door that lead from the top floor to the roof.

Dondy's smile turned to an annoyed glare. * Stupid humans! Why did they have to come up here? All I want is some peace and quiet with my lover. Is that too much to ask? *

A third person came out of the stairwell. Dondy recognized her as Angel's secretary. Before they took him, Dondy had done some recon on Angel and his business. The secretary had never seemed like much of a threat.

"So you're the girl behind Angel's kidnapping? Well we have your boyfriend and we won't give him back until you fix Angel."

Giles shook his head. This was not how he had planned to tell her. "Thank you, Cordelia. Tell her everything why don't you." She gave him a 'Fine, sorry' look, but otherwise was silent.

Dondy refused to let herself believe their ruse. "Your bluffing. He went to go kill your Slayer."

She waited for worried expressions. The 3 intruders looked calm, which started to freak out Dondy. Doubts began to enter her mind. * He's taking too long, maybe they did capture him...They better not have hurt him. Maybe if I do whatever they want, then they won't hurt him...or maybe they'll just let him go. *

Dondy resolved herself to keep calm, but all the misgivings had gotten to her.

"Fine. What do you want?"

The redhead spoke for the first time. "We want you to undo the spell on Angel."

Dondy creased her brow in confusion. "Why?"

Willow started to reply.

"Actually, no. I don't want to know why and in fact, I don't care. All I have to say is if you hurt Tobie then I will kill you. That's a promise." Dondy hoped her bravado covered up the fact that she was genuinely worried about Tobie. To add to her act, she gave the group a spiteful look.

Giles, Willow and Cordy met Dondy's evil glare without flinching. Dondy was the one who finally looked away.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Buffy looked around the corner, Xander was standing behind her trying to get a look at the operations building.

"I don't see anyone Buff. Everything looks quiet."

A voice spoke, seemingly out of nowhere. "Maybe you should try looking harder."

Buffy turned and walked a few steps in the general direction the voice had come from. "Maybe you should try not sneaking up on people." Buffy was now standing in front of Xander and both of them were scanning the area for any sign of the guy who was creeping around.

Footsteps sounded on the broken concrete and a figure walked out of the shadows of an alley. He stopped about 10 feet from where Buffy and Xander were standing.

"Is this sufficient?" He asked.

"Better, but I usually like my enemies within fighting distance. Guess it's a Slayer thing."

The man walked forward slowly, stopping just out of Buffy's range. "Hello Slayer, Harris."

Xander briefly wondered how this guy knew what he had told the secretary. * Guess word gets around in that place... *

"Hi Tobie." Buffy countered.

Tobie was unfazed. "Good memory, Buffy. But I grow tired of this name game." 

Buffy didn't think Tobie looked very threatening. In fact, if he were not standing in the shadows and wearing black he could almost pass for innocent and kind.

An evil smile crossed his lips. "You have been the basis for much of our trouble lately." He glanced at Xander, "Both of you actually."

When Tobie smiled, the non-threatening idea left Buffy's mind. He somewhat resembled Angelus when he smiled...Which reminded her of what they came here to do- distract him.

Just a minute ago Cordy had called and told Xander to keep Tobie occupied, then to get over to where they were as fast as possible.

"Well good. We enjoy causing trouble," Buffy looked at Xander, urging him to back her up. "Ya...Trouble is our middle names. Both of us! Isn't that ironic?"

Buffy rolled her eyes and looked back at Tobie, wondering if he too had thought Xander's remark was the lamest ever made.

Tobie was still smiling and it was beginning to unnerve her. "You won't be enjoying your hobby for much longer. It ends now."

"No it doesn't." Xander glanced at Buffy, "We'll keep causing trouble for...some time period that is very, very long."

Buffy shook her head. * A new level of lameness. * Tobie continued to grin, as if he was laughing at some private joke she and Xander were not part of. It was more than unnerving, it was annoying.

"Would you knock it off, Chessy?"

He didn't. "I was simply wondering if another slayer will be activated after I kill you. I can't seem to make up my mind..."

Xander looked at his watch, then urgently showed it to Buffy. "We hate to threaten and run, but we're gonna threaten and run." Buffy grabbed Xander's arm, turned him around, and told him to run. They took off in the general direction of the place their friends were at.

Tobie stood and watched them leave, a puzzled expression on his face. "Why do I feel as though that were a tad too easy?"

He pondered what to do now that the 'threat' had gone, Dondy immediately coming to mind. He walked into the operations building, checked in, told everyone that he had dealt with the 'problem', that they would have been able to handle it and not to contact him until he came back. He was walking out the door when he was dragged off to deal with the Brendan/Damien problem which took him 10 minutes to weasel out of. 

Putting someone else in charge of that situation freed him to go back to Dondy. He rushed out of the exit and headed back toward the rooftop where Dondy was waiting for him. Little did he know that she was not there alone...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Buffy slowly led Xander up the stairs. She could hear the voices of Giles and Cordelia as they drew closer to the top. Buffy opened the door that led to the roof, stepped out and looked around for her friends. They were standing off to the left, Dondy was uncomfortably sitting on the ledge, looking forlornly towards where Buffy and Xander had just come from. Buffy cleared her throat to get their attention.

"We're here. Let's go now."

Xander came up behind her and surveyed the scene. He pushed by and went towards Cordelia. "You give crappy directions! We got lost a couple times on the way here."

"Well, sorry." Cordy retorted with sarcasm.

Giles and Willow stood up and glared pointedly at Dondy.

She groaned and rose, "I'm coming, calm down."

The group started to head down the stairs, which were somewhat narrow. Willow and Xander went first, followed by Giles and Cordelia, then Dondy who was flanked by Buffy.

"Don't take another step." Someone said threateningly from the opposite side of the roof.

Dondy froze, turned and tried to push past Buffy, who realized she might have to take drastic measures now. She too had recognized that voice, it spelled trouble. Buffy pulled the knife Giles had suggested she take from her belt. She hoped that Dondy and Tobie wouldn't realize she was unsure if she would be able to use it on a human, even non-fatally.

Dondy glanced briefly at the knife, then quickly turned back to Tobie who had walked out of the shadows.

"Tobie...But-they.." Realization dawned. "Ugh!! I fell for it!"

Tobie carefully looked over the scene before him. * They must have told Dondy that they did something to me and she went along with it. * He took a step in their direction. Buffy moved the knife towards Dondy, keeping her eyes on Tobie while throwing cautious glances back to Dondy. Tobie was having a hard time controlling his laughter. * The Slayer is more afraid of using that knife on a human than Dondy is getting her throat slit. * He thought about that last part and looked into Dondy's eyes.

She was getting that look Tobie knew all too well. She was going to start a fight, possibly get herself hurt or killed in the process. * I don't think they want to hurt her, since they obviously stooped to trickery. Maybe it has some connection to do with Angel...If I let them take her than possibly she won't be harmed. I can rescue her then. *

"Dondy, don't!"

Dondy, who had been about to grab Cordelia and throw her into Buffy, froze. "What?"

"Don't do anything irrational. Go peacefully for now. I'll be back."

"But-"

"Just do it. The last thing I want is to see you hurt."

He focused his attention on the Slayer and people behind her. "If you harm her in any way, you will come to regret it."

He turned and walked to the same edge as last time. He paused on the edge. "That's a promise." He echoed Dondy's previous oath. The he jumped, quickly disappearing into the night.

Dondy watched him leave, knowing he would come back as he said. She turned back to the group and smiled cheerfully at them. "Come on. Let's go. No sense in waiting around here."

She gently pushed Cordy to get the group moving then willingly followed them back to Angel Investigations. She had a plan that was going to be fun. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Giles felt like slamming his head into the wall, repeatedly. It probably would have been more productive.

Dondy smiled, obviously enjoying the annoyance she was causing. Giles took a deep breath and his hand off his eyes. He took off his glasses, looked down for a moment, put his glasses back on and focused his attention on Dondy.

"For at least the hundredth time, what have you done to Angel?"

"Why do you think I did something to Angel?"

"Is this the spell you used on him?" Giles pointed to the spell Willow had discovered an hour or so ago.

"What spell?" She asked, as if she didn't even see the book.

"Could you tell me anything?"

"What do you want to know?"

"I want to know what you did to Angel."

"When did I say that I did anything to him?"

"Are you turning him evil?"

"Now why would I want to do that?"

Giles looked away, silently giving up. "That's precisely what I want to know," he muttered to himself as he walked away.

"Ding, ding! And the watcher loses another round to Dondy, the undefeated champion!" she laughed, holding up her arms to emphasize her statement.

Buffy watched Giles walk to the other side of the room. Dondy relaxed triumphantly on the couch, the same evil grin on her face that Tobie had done before. Buffy headed back upstairs to get the others. * Now I know who he learned that smile from...or maybe it was the other way around. * Buffy figured that a group interrogation would be more productive. She heard Giles start one last futile attempt at getting Dondy to reveal anything.

"Alright, let's begin simple."

"Do you really think you'll get anything out of me?"

"What is your name?"

"What's yours?"

"Why must you answer my questions with other questions?"

"Why do you have to ask so many questions?"

Xander, who had just come down with the rest of the Scooby Gang, snickered at Giles's aggravation. "G-man! I'm sure if the Inquisition was still around they'd recruit you right away!"

"Very funny," Giles replied. He looked desperately at the others. "Would anyone like to give it a try?"

Cordy smiled and walked over to the couch. "Hi! I'm Cordelia."

Dondy gave her a blank look. "How could you think that_ that_ would work?"

Cordy gave up with an uncaring shrug and an 'Oh well, I tried.' She moved out of the way so someone else could try.

Xander sat down on the arm of the couch, thinking of something to say that she would actually respond to. "So...What are you?"

"What am I?"

"You know; Are you a vampire, demon, human...what?"

She mockingly smiled at him, "Did it ever occur to you that I'm none of the above?"

"Congratulations Xander. You got further in 5 minutes than I did in an hour."

Confused, Xander looked at Giles to explain what he had just said.

He clarified. "She just told you that she's neither vampire, demon nor human."

Xander didn't see any significance in that. "And you call that getting somewhere?"

"There aren't that many exceptions...Cordy, will you help me research?"

Dondy swore quietly in another language. Followed by something about 'Stupid humans.'

"What was that?" Giles asked, turning the tables; he was now being the one who was mocking the other with questions.

Dondy didn't give a verbal reply, only smiled evilly. She and Tobie both seemed fond of doing that.

Giles headed into the other room for some more books, unhappily noting that Angel didn't have much of a collection. It was in no way comparable to all the books Giles had. Since Giles seemed allergic to computers, Cordy took the elevator upstairs to begin searching online. 

Xander went back to his intelligence mission. "Why are you making Dead Boy evil?"

"I'm not even going to ask another question. I'm just gonna say completely unrelated stuff."

Buffy gasped in mock astonishment. "It can speak in declarative sentences!"

Dondy glared menacingly in return, "At least I don't screw the undead."

"Maybe not the undead, but how about the inhuman?"

"Okay," Xander started again. "Now that we've gotten out our insults, let's get back to what I was saying: What did you do to Dead Boy?"

"Your shirt is on backwards," Dondy pointed out instead of answering.

Xander looked at the front of his shirt and noticed the tip of the manufacturer's tag sticking out. He tucked it in and quickly went back to topic. "Why are you dancing around the subject, Dondy?"

"Are you sure my name is Dondy?"

"It is, right?"

She grinned, not her usual evil grin, but a normal one that you would expect from a normal person. "What if it's Bob the Dairy Cow?"

Xander rolled his eyes and sympathized with Giles for a brief moment. "This isn't Jeopardy; all answers don't have to be in the form of a question."

"Ruin my fun, why don't you?"

Xander momentarily considered the familiarity of this response and wondered if Dondy had bugged their car while they were tailing Brendan or something.

"I gotta question for you," Dondy announced.

"Not another..." Xander groaned.

"What is your name?"

"I thought you weren't going to ask any more questions."

"No. I'm serious," she insisted. "The watcher said your name is Xander, but the security guy said your name is Harris."

"Why do you want to know?"

"Well...I'd like to know if the guy I hired was competent and honest. Besides, Tobie enjoys knowing everybody's name." She did the evil grin, "Easier to send someone to kill them that way."

"What fun," Xander muttered.

"Now, is one of them your nickname or your last name? Hmm...I don't see how you would get Xander out of Harris or vice versa, so it's not a nickname." Dondy looked up at Xander to confirm her suspicions. He turned his head and looked at the red-head.

"Yup. Now is 'Harris' your last name or first?"

"I'm not telling," Xander chanted, sounding like a 5 year old.

"Harris Xander...No, that's not right. Xander Harris, yeah, that sounds right." She glanced up at him again, "Hello Xander Harris."

"Hi Dondy," he replied unhappily.

"Next!" Dondy called, leaning her head back as if she was trying to amplify her voice.

"Maybe a truth spell will work." Willow suggested, going over to the bookcase to look through the books for one that might contain such a spell.

"Well maybe I'm immune." Dondy called over to her.

Xander, annoyed that she had figured out his full name so easily, sarcastically asked, "Is that a dairy cow thing?"

"Yeah Sherlock," She mocked. "How ever did you figure that out? You are so good at deciphering the clues."

Angel walked out of the bedroom, freeing the last piece of rope from his wrists. He watched the fruitless interrogation while he leaned against the door frame. Dondy was easily avoiding answering the questions she was being asked. Buffy and Xander were getting aggravated at this. Willow and Giles were over by the glass bookcase on the wall farthest from him. They were talking, but he couldn't make out what they were saying. Cordy came downstairs came down the stairs and loudly announced that she couldn't find anything.

Angel grinned. They were all here. Why Dondy was here though, was a mystery as well as something of a threat; Dondy didn't like him. He sauntered out of the doorway and towards the couch, smiling. * This promises to be fun...I haven't had any fun in awhile. * "So Dondy, what kind of evil have you been up to lately?"

Everyone's heads jerked in his direction, no one had seen him come out of the bedroom. They were all silent as well.

"What? No warm hello?"

Willow took a small step backwards, trying not to be noticed. "Uhhh....Giles? Do you think the spell worked?"

Giles shook his head and glanced towards the table on which they had left all their weapons. * Too far away. Stall! Stall! * "Well...I-I don't know...Buffy?"

Dondy spoke instead. "Hey Angel. What makes you think I'm up to something evil?"

"Oh, I dunno." He walked slowly around the coffee table. "Maybe because your a vampire that enjoys causing chaos, disorder and destruction!"

Dondy glared at him and he smiled again. "It's just a guess."

"Angel?" Buffy asked cautiously.

He looked over. For the first time, it registered that she was in the same room as he was. A wave of fidgety nervousness hit him and he looked down at the 'fascinating' patterns of the carpet instead of at Buffy. "Hi, Buffy...What are you doing here?"

Buffy's eyes lit up at his nervousness, only souled-Angel could act that way. She jumped into his arms, hugging him tightly. "Angel! You're you!"

This made Angel feel even more awkward. And her statement hadn't been so reassuring either. "When was I not me?"

She pulled back so she could look at him. "When you attacked me, you were acting like some kind of wild animal..."

"Attacked you!? Are you Ok?"

"I'm fine, don't you remember anything?"

He thought for a second. "I remember this demon barging into my office while I was with a client. That and waking up tied to my bed. Care to explain?"

Dondy started snickering, trying to stay quiet. When everyone turned to look at her, she was silent for a moment before breaking into gales of laughter.

"What's so funny?" Buffy demanded.

"It-it...-Snicker-...wasn't...-giggle-...a client!" She stopped there to laugh harder at Angel's gullibility. "It was Tobie!" Pause for more laughter. "We tricked you -Snicker- How stupid are you anyway?"

"What?" Angel growled at her. He marched over to the couch which Dondy was practically falling off of due to her laughter.

She giggled for a few more seconds, then managed to get herself under control. "You heard me. I don't like to repeat myself."

"Make an exception."

"For you?"

"Yes."

"No." 

He grabbed her roughly by the neck, intent on making her explain what she had said. The others in the room looked on, surprised that he had resorted to violence over something that appeared so trivial, and briefly wondered if he had, in fact, turned evil again. Angel, on the other hand, was surprised to find that Dondy's skin was warm. * This is just strange. Vampires usually don't have a very high body temperature. * 

"Explain yourself," he demanded with quiet anger.

"You can't make me," she choked out.

"Oh yeah?"

"Yup." 

Angel applied more pressure, cutting off her air supply. "I'll let you go if you'd tell me what's going on."

Dondy's only response to that was to bring her fist down on his arm and kick him in the stomach, shoving him backward. She tentatively rubbed her throat. "That's not how this works." 

"I thought I warned you." Tobie said from atop the staircase. He had arrived just in time to see Dondy free herself from Angel's hold.

"But you never-" Xander began.

"Shut up, Harris. I should get Brendan to kill you. It'll save me the inconvenience of having to wash your blood out of my clothing."

Willow grimaced. "Eww."

"You should stay silent as well, redhead. Go find something to do elsewhere." He began to trail off, "Beat yourself to death with a shovel..." He shook his head and got back on track. "What did you tell them, Dondy?"

Xander, the forever annoying and stupid one, piped up again. "She told us her name is Bob the Dairy Cow! That's got to be highly classified!"

"Really, Dondy. Why couldn't you have allowed Brendan to eat Harris? It would have saved us the annoyance and made Brendan happy."

Xander muttered something about his name, walked over to the glass bookcase and leaned against it.

"His name is Xander." This was directed to Tobie, but Dondy was looking mockingly at Xander when she said it.

"Yeah? Well you're a freak!" Xander countered lamely.

"Uh-huh. I'm insulted. Big time."

"But it's true!" Willow clarified, "You're not a vampire, but you're not human either."

Tobie smacked his forehead. "Why are we making small talk? We should commence with the killing."

"Tobie," Dondy said warningly.

He put on an innocent face. A trick at which he was rather good. "What? They hurt you. Now they must die."

"My knight in shining armor. Aren't you chivalrous."

Xander turned around and faced the bookcase. They were making him sicker then Buffy and Angel ever had. He absently stared into the glass; he could still see them. * Ugh! I'm not even looking in their direction and I can still see Dondy and Tobie flirting. Willow is looking away, so is Giles. Buffy is glaring in Dondy and Tobie's direction...Where's Cordy?...Oh! She's behind Giles and Willow. Dead Boy is staring at Buffy. Some things never change... * Xander turned back around, giving up and stared unapprovingly at 'Dead Boy'.

Angel looked away from Buffy once he noticed Xander's glare, opting to stare instead at the ever so captivating floor covering. He only brought his head up again when he addressed the outsiders. "Dondy _and_ Tobie. Didn't recognize you, Tobie. Go through another one of your nifty reincarnations?"

"Of course," Giles said quietly. "Tobie, the man of many faces. Why didn't I make the connection." 

Buffy gave Giles an exasperated sigh and a 'you-couldn't-have-figured-that-out- earlier?' look.

Angel continued. "What happened? Did someone actually kill you this time or did you get tired of that life and do it yourself?" Tobie didn't answer him. Angel then turned his gaze to Dondy. "And how is the Slayer-come-Vampire?"

"There is only one case of that happening and the Slayer in question was named-"

Dondy cut Giles off. "I changed my name." She looked back at Angel. "Think you know everything, huh?"

"No. Just some facts."

Buffy broke in. " 'What spell did you do on him and why' seems to be the question of the hour. Care to enlighten us?"

"I Don't want to. I don't like it when people choke me." She looked pointedly at Angel. "So just figure it out yourself."

"Fine," Buffy said, angry that these two did something to Angel and they still had no clue what it was. "We have a research team that does this kind of stuff all the time."

"But wouldn't it just be easier-" Xander objected.

"Xander," Buffy interjected. "Would you take out any spell books that are in that cabinet behind you?"

"Sure but-"

"No buts. We don't need them to tell us."

"Buffy," Giles started cautiously. "Why are you so...stubborn about this?"

"They hurt Angel plus they're evil equals we slay them. It's a simple equation."

Angel smiled at Buffy. * She's that protective of me? I thought she'd hate me after I left. *

"Knock it off, Dead Boy! Buffy has a boyfriend and it's not you!" Xander shouted.

Buffy looked briefly at Angel, then turned her angry gaze to Xander. "How did you know he was looking at me? Were you staring at him, jealous that he'll never love you, or something?"

"No. I can see his reflection in the glass. His head was turned towards you and he was smiling."

Buffy glared. "That's about the most pathetic excuse you could have come up with."

"But it's true!"

"It's impossible. Vampires don't have reflections. Trust me, I'd know."

"Fine. You don't believe me? Just look." Xander stepped to the side of the bookcase, giving Buffy a clear view of it.

Angel's apartment was reflected in miniature in the glass pane. Buffy could see that everyone was either staring at the bookcase or Angel, who was somewhat fuzzier than everyone else, but still there. 

Angel was just staring at his reflection in awe. "This is not normal."

"Ta Da!" Dondy exclaimed, standing and raising her arms for dramatic emphasis. "Congratulations, have fun being human."

Angel's mouth dropped slightly in shock. "Human?"

"Yeah. Didn't you realize that breathing and have a pulse...?"

"What?"

Buffy walked over to him and took his wrist. Her expression fell to disappointment. "He doesn't have a pulse. Any vampire can make it look like they're breathing." 

"Oh well." Dondy shrugged. "Guess that'll come later..." She looked over at Tobie. "How long does it take to kick in?"

"Ordinarily...about 3 hours," Tobie calculated.

"Alright. You'll be human in roughly 3 hours." Dondy headed towards the staircase with Tobie in tow. Angel briefly wondered when Tobie had come down from the top of the stairs. 

"No, wait." Angel called before they could take another step in that direction. "You have to undo this."

"Why!?" Buffy cried.

"Because I can't even defend myself like this. Our lives aren't our own, Buffy. we have to decide what the greater good is."

"But-"

"Someone punch him." Dondy said, finding their whining annoying.

"Finally, someone agrees with me." Xander muttered.

"Why?" Buffy asked.

"Just do it." Was Dondy's only answer. "In the face, several times if need be."

Buffy looked up at Angel to see what his opinion of all this was. "Go ahead," he encouraged. "I want to see where she's going with this."

Buffy gave him a questioning look for a few more seconds and then did as Dondy and Angel had proposed; she hit him.

"Ow," said Angel. Buffy's strike had almost made him rotate 180 degrees. As it was, he was facing away from her.

"Sorry," Buffy apologized sincerely. "Guess I forgot my own strength."

Angel turned and looked back up. "It's ok. I'm fine."

Buffy barley registered what he'd said. She'd expected him to be bleeding or something. The 'or something' category was the right one. He was now in his 'game face', which is to say his vampire appearance they usually saw when he was fighting.

Xander laughed. "That's _really_ human."

Angel glared over at Dondy, but it ended up being more of a confused look.

"I'll give you the basics of what's going on." Dondy explained, "You're human except for what I call 'The Plusses of Being a Vampire.' " 

"There are plusses?" Angel asked sarcastically.

"Of course. The strength, fast healing, being able to sneak up on people, the extended senses..."

"Immortality," Willow added.

"No way!" Dondy objected. "Immortality is a bad thing; I hated it."

"I have to say I agree with you on that point," Angel muttered.

"One minor point," Tobie raised his voice a little to get everyone's attention. "He still has to drink blood."

There was a chorus of 'Why's from the occupants of the room.

"To keep your 'Vampiric Plusses' as Dondy puts it," Tobie explained, mainly to Angel, but loud enough so that everyone could hear him. He didn't want someone to not hear and ask him again; like Dondy he disliked having to repeat himself. 

"_And _eat food?" Cordy asked, wrinkling her nose in disgust. Tobie nodded.

"Is he still...I mean can he..." Buffy began.

"What she's trying to say is: Is Angel still Mr. Vampire-with-a-cursed-soul?" Xander explained.

"Cursed? He can't be technically 'cursed' is he doesn't have a demon in constant competition with his soul. Just the demon's blood, which dies off quickly without replenishing as fast so he still needs the human blood to be changed by certain chemicals in demon blood to make more of it," Dondy explained. "It's a normal vampiric process."

"So...No demon and no curse?" Buffy asked hopefully.

Dondy sighed. * I Hate having to repeat myself...* "Isn't that what I said?" 

Buffy turned and smiled broadly at Angel. To everyone's surprise, he was smiling back, just as happily.

"So Dead Boy is human?" Xander said mostly to himself. "Who thinks there's something wrong with this picture?" He put up his hand and looked around for anyone else who agreed with him.

"Xander," Willow said accusingly. "There's nothing 'wrong' with Angel being human. It's great. For him _and_ Buffy." She smiled at the two of them when she mentioned their names.

"Do any of you remember Riley Finn? Tall, blonde, Buffy's _boyfriend_."

Buffy smile faded noticably and Angel gave Xander an if-looks-could-kill glare.

Dondy and Tobie silently exchanged mischevious grins, decideing to stay and see what the outcome of this argument would be.

"We'll deal with that later," Buffy said simply, detremined to make things work.

Cordy had a thoughtful look for a moment then asked, "Angel? Are you going to go back to Sunnydale?"

Angel detected the worry in her voice. "I'm not sure yet, Cordy. Don't worry though."

"I'm not worried," she said, managing to sound unconcerned.

Giles spoke up excitedly. "This is unprecedented! We have to write this down, analyze your unique condition!"

"Can everyone just calm down?!" Buffy announced loudly, breaking into everyone's little side conversations. "We have plenty of time to analyze and decide what we're going to do, but can't we just enjoy this right now? Angel is _human_. For the first time in over 200 years he can be normal, do normal things," she smiled at her first love gazing into his deep brown eyes. 

"Why don't we leave now," Tobie suggested quietly to Dondy so he wouldn't ruin the moment. He gently pushed her towards the stairs.

The spell had obviously gone according to plan because Angel could still hear really well. "Wait," he called. They turned around. "Why did you do this?"

"Just repaying a debt. See you around." Dondy called over her shoulder. She and Tobie left. No one made any move to stop them this time.

"Wow," Buffy stated simply, summing up everyone's feelings in one word. "What did you do for her?"

"I don't know..." Angel said quietly.

"Hey Ex-Dead Boy!" Xander called. "Me, Will and Cordy are going to the beach. You and Buffy wanna come?"

Angel turned to Buffy. She smiled and nodded. It was the first step towards acceptance. They headed up the steps and into the sunlight, hand in hand.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

With the problem of the Slayer and vampire solved, Tobie and Dondy had some time to spend together without worry of interruption. They were sitting quietly in their room. The only sounds were their rhythmic breathing and the quiet hum of the air conditioner. After such a hectic week, the quiet was heavenly. They knew it wouldn't last. They had other problems and tasks to move onto and worry about, but for now they could enjoy the temporary peace.

They were sitting together on the couch. Dondy leaning against Tobie's chest and he had his arms wrapped loosely around her.

"If everyone had done things my way, then the vampire/slayer thing would have gone more smoothly." Dondy commented nonchalantly.

"Yeah, but you wanted oppose what the seer, Jeff, said the Powers wanted."

"Why did they want us to turn Angel human without telling him? Would we have had to force him anyway?"

"You know the possible consequences of that spell. I don't think he would have risked becoming evil if it went wrong. It has gone wrong before." Tobie explained, thinking over other the plausible answers to her questions.

"But still, why couldn't we've told the slayer or her friends?"

"I don't know. You just have to trust that the powers knew what they were doing."

"You're right. I'm glad he knows we're equal now. Even if he doesn't know what he did for me, for us." Dondy smiled at her truelove.

"I'm glad he found that spell. Now we can be together." He cupped her chin in his hand, turning her head so he could look into her eyes. "I hated every moment of my existence while you were demonic. I missed the real you." He smiled back at her.

"I've got an idea. It would solve Buffy's new found problem and be fun for one of our agents." She grinned, her eyes getting that mischievous look in them.

"I think I have to go with you on that one. I met that Riley guy, he's a jerk and a threat to us because of his military connections. He could get angry that Buffy is with the now human Angel and trace it back to us."

Dondy finished his thought for him. "And get the police or the FBI after us."

"Wanna call Brandy?" Tobie inquired.

"A little later. You never know when some 'crisis' will pop up. We should use our free time wisely."

"Right again," he said quietly as he leaned over and pulled her into his arms, facing him. He gently pressed his lips against hers, but soon the kiss deepened, becoming more passionate. Tobie carefully put some of his weight against her, delicately pressing her back against the couch, never breaking their kiss.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Epilogue

The fanfiction writer slowly crept around the corner of the building, her prey was in sight. He was walking slowly, trying to reach someone on a cellphone, completely oblivious to the world around him. It was a dark, clouded night and the writer had no problem keeping unseen in the shadows. The man she was stalking gave an aggravated groan into the phone; whoever he was calling obviously wasn't there.

She cautiously moved in closer; she could now hear what he was saying.

"Come on, pick up! You have to be there!"

Soundlessly, she got in close behind him and pulled out a gun. It was much like the one Dondy had used on Angel. In fact, it was of the same make. She loaded it with a dart and shot the man she had been observing. He cried out and turned, trying to find his attacker, but she had melted back into the shadows. He staggered for a moment before collapsing onto the ground, unconscious.

Next, she pulled out a radio and spoke quickly to her cohort. "Bring the truck. I'm outside the dorm."

A few minutes later, a black van pulled noiselessly up to the dorm building. The writer and her young accomplice struggled to load the unconscious man into the back. After they had succeeded in the feat, they drove to a small house in a quiet neighborhood. They brought him down into the basement and locked him in a cage; a cage that contained a vampire. This was not just any vampire either, this one had contracted a sickness much like rabies.

The writer, Brandy, and her companion Tony, watched happily as the rabid vampire multilated and played with it's 'food' until the man was no longer able to fight back. Then the vamp sucked every last drop of blood out of their captive. After that, they went back upstairs. Tony left and Brandy called Dondy to tell her that Riley Finn, the man she had locked in the cage, was dead. Everyone rejoiced!

~* The End! *~


End file.
